Second War of the Sisters
by Marquess
Summary: A Solar Empire/New Lunar Republic fic that breaks radically from the canon. The divinely-ruled Illian Empire ensures safety for all its people through the subjugation of males and a loosely enforced caste system. But when the Lady of Night breaks free of Her sister's prison, the choice between pragmatic security and just freedom tears six friends apart.
1. Dusk Chapter One: Dramatis Personae

Note: Before biting into this fic, please read the foreword on my profile page.

* * *

_"And so We issue these decrees, which shall henceforth be the foundations of our society and the stability which shall mark it:_

**Chapter One: Dramatis Personae**

_"That the seraphim, who resisted conquest with unparalleled ferocity and unity of purpose, shall be charged with the defence of the kingdom..._  
-Second Societal Decree, Ladies Carrinth and Laaren

11.3.2572 SE

Waste was aptly named, like most other realms. Barren lifeless desert stretched eight kilometres wide and forty long, the sun fixed in place all year round. Its long sides did not connect to any other, so flying north to south would bring you back to where you began.

Its east point linked to the much larger realm of Coral, almost entirely covered by ocean, which was home to a great number of aquatic creatures both sentient and primal. Flush with life as it was, its residents were not predisposed to entering the bone dry realm.

The western point connected to Eden, home realm of the Illia and seat of their Empire. A natural bottleneck, Waste would have been annexed by them if Coral's peoples hadn't been wise enough to be unnerved by the idea of an Illian territory directly adjacent to theirs, and rich enough that the Avatar of Light had decided good relations was more important than a realm devoid of life or resources. Fessa could see Her point.

On Waste's end, the link between the two realms was only eight kilometres across. On Eden's end, it was forty nine. Treaties prevented the Empire from having a true military presence, but it was too obvious a checkpoint to disregard, and for this reason herself and Ryda (And also Trita and Culava and Lokano and Sero, back at camp) suffered the heat.

Waste had barely any moisture at all, but they'd managed to gather together a cloud big enough for two. Fessa's red hair was tied in a braid that reached down to the small of her back, her pale freckled skin protected by seri magic from burning in the sun. She'd drawn her knees up to her chin, eyes watching the sky. Her unfolded wings lay across those of Ryda, who lay belly down peering lazily down at the dunes some distance below. The other woman's skin was a darker shade than the desert sand they were nominally keeping watch of, hair black and cut to the earlobe. Both wore the Flock's Righteous Forces uniform of sky-blue leathers (Fessa with the white shoulders of a medic) with wings dyed to match. They also had short swords at their hips, wide tight quivers strapped to their thighs, and daggers sheathed handle-down bound tightly to the forearms of their off hands. Their primary weapons were too bulky to sit comfortably with: short glaives a metre and half in length tipped with blades suited to both slashing and stabbing, and longbows just as tall (All were wrapped with seri hair to prevent them from falling through the cloud). Half their initial training had been learning how to move without stumbling on their own weapons.

"This is, without a doubt, the worst posting ever," Ryda declared.

"At least it's peaceful."

"Peaceful was nice for the first, like, five minutes. Now it's just boring."

"Still," Fessa soothed (Though she'd started to feel the same way) "It's better than drilling all day. Or flying in Wild."

"I liked flying in Wild, though. You know I can't turn down a challenge."

Fessa's wings folded at just the thought of those skies, the ceaseless chaotic current of magic that made flying near impossible. She missed a lot about that realm, but not that. Never that.

"Damn Cyrra anyway," Ryda muttered.

Fessa started to say something, but lost courage before the first word was entirely out of her mouth. Ryda shoved her in that way she showed support. Fessa's wings brushed open over hers again. "It's just, you did kind of call her a lot of things in front of the whole murder..."

"She deserved it." (Well not really, Fessa thought) Ryda's wings flexed open, Fessa's snapped shut in response. "I'm stiff. Let's patrol."

"But we just went on pat-" Ryda evaded the complaint by rolling off their cloud. Fessa scrambled over to peer down in a more anxious imitation of what Ryda had been doing just a few moments before, watching said seri free fall. Their post cloud was just over four hundred metres from the ground, and as usual Ryda seemed interested in clearing that distance in as little time as possible; her wings were tight against her back, profile slim, facie toward oncoming death below. Three hundred metres. She'd be fine, she was always fine. Two hundred. Fessa's fingers gripped the cloud as if it were solid. One hundred. Fear pushed adrenaline through her veins. Blue wings snapped open at the last possible moment, velocity expertly redirected to forward momentum, and Ryda drew level twenty metres from the ground. The image of red-stained dunes vanished just as quickly from Fessa's mind, replaced with the exhilaration of shared joy. She quickly holstered her glaive in the loops between her wings, took her bow in her hand (Ryda had grabbed her own weapons without Fessa noticing), and followed in a less dramatic fashion.

Some seri, like Ryda, lived to fly. Some saw it as a superior alternative to running when speed was needed. For a weak flyer like Fessa, it was a chore. Fessa's descent was slow and cautious, but Ryda rose nearly to her level ahead with a few beats of her powerful wings anyway. She made an unnecessarily sharp turn to make sure Fessa had followed (She didn't know why, she always did). A gust of wind caught Fessa off-guard before she'd properly gotten her wings. She spent a few seconds trying to recover from that, then several more tumbling when Ryda zipped by her close enough to catch her in the wind tow, going at great speed in the opposite direction they were supposed to patrol.

"Ryda!" Fessa screamed, half in terror and half in indignation, desperately flapping to try and regain stability and avoid death below (Or rather, to try and avoid the further indignity of being rescued by her friend while en-route to death below). By the time she reduced the odds of that embarrassment to an acceptable minimum, Ryda had completed her third wide circle of her. This was how Ryda waited, and for Ryda waiting always meant growing impatient. Once Fessa had her wings back, the other seri angled back toward their marked patrol route and took off at speeds Fessa couldn't dream of matching.

She followed at her own pace, heart still hammering in her chest, but that little voice she couldn't turn off even when she wanted to noted how she'd recovered even faster than the last time she'd pulled that stunt. Ahead, Ryda's form was rapidly dwindling to nothing. Had she continued at her current rate she might have rounded Waste's narrow width and come up behind Fessa, but before the seri abruptly stopped before she could disappear. Then began to circle in a search pattern. Puzzled, Fessa quickened her pace. They'd gone on a lot of patrols in the weeks since they were assigned here, but none had actually turned up anything worth mentioning (She was afraid her letters to the girls were becoming boring).

Ryda stopped searching and shot back toward Fessa like an arrow. For a moment she thought they'd collide in midair, but the other could brake as well as she could accelerate and it was only air that blew into Fessa. A weaker flyer would have broken her wings, but Ryda wasn't even breathing hard. "You remember anyone mention a caravan coming through today?"

From the bleak realm of Gulch there were harpies, who delighted in eating their oft-sentient prey alive. Ryda'd had some good times there. From the developing realm of Frontier were the giants, four metres tall and prone to burning villages down for the sake of it. Nice enough place, she'd decided. From the great forests of Wild were horror locusts, swarming insects that devoured crops and flesh indiscriminately. Good flying. From the pleasure-laden realm of Dune there were camels, and for that Ryda could not forgive it.

"With the Avatar as my witness, if one of those things spits on me again, I'm killing all of you," Ryda promised with absolute sincerity.

"Why kill us?" Asked a captive. "Kill them!"

Six males knelt, hands clasped behind their heads. Four agri, two seri. Ryda had designated two agri Brown and Browner for their hair colour, the two who'd shared the same camel the Lovers, the seri missing half the fingers on one hand Stubs, and the last Wings because by then she'd stopped caring. With a deft motion Ryda reversed her polearm and smacked Browner in the ribs with its shaft. The blade was pointing back toward the group before his cry was finished. "Speak when spoken to."

"Please don't kill anyone, Ryda." That was Fessa, behind and above with a notched arrow pointing in the group's general direction. "And... You did kind of speak to him."

Ryda grit her teeth. Then a camel spit on the back of White's head, which alleviated her mood enough to concede the point. Grudgingly. "Fine. So long as nobody's stupid, nobody dies." Her glaive stayed where it was. "You all fourths?"

"I'm a citizen," said Stubs. Judging by his scarring, he'd probably worn blue leather like hers to get it. She allotted the man a smidgen of respect, then took it away once she remembered why he was kneeling.

"Not for long." She gestured with her glaive. "Smuggling'll get you knocked right back down."

"Smuggling what?" Stubs' good hand slowly went to fetch his papers from his vest - or to reach for a weapon, in which case he'd be breaking the stupidity condition. "You haven't actually searched us yet."

"Do you want to get stabbed?" Brown hissed.

"Brown has a point, Stubs."

"She just finished promising not to kill any of us, why can't I ask a question?" His hand stayed in his pocket and Ryda opened her mouth to remind him about the stupidity clause of that contract, but Brown interrupted her.

"Look at her you drunk. Narrow shoulders, long fingers, blue-gold eyes, the calf-thigh ratio: She's itching to stab you."

"Wait, I thought blue-gold meant friendly?"

"It means _emotional_. Everything about her screams-"

Ryda stabbed Stubs.

"My leg! You Laarendautter!" Wings gave him a harsh look, but Ryda didn't hold it against the cripple: nobody was pleasant company immediately after their blood started spilling. White burst into wine-scented laughter followed by Browner, but the Lovers just kept their eyes to the ground.

"Enough with the anthromorphology lesson. Fessa, keep an eye on them." She reached into Stubs' vest and grabbed the thick wad of papers he'd been reaching for before his hands became preoccupied with applying pressure to the new hole in his leg. She took a few steps back and rested her glaive on a shoulder as she sorted through them. Citizenship papers - Hey, Raido, what a coincidence - some mail with Reef City postage on them, and an item manifest. Bingo. "I'm searching the train." Unlikely as it was that an unregistered caravan traveling through a border realm would be legitimate, it was generally good practise to acquire evidence before making an arrest. Unfortunately, that meant getting within biting range of the camels.

Her leathers had several new marks on them when she finally dropped the large unmanifested sack in front of the man and males. The Lovers tensed, Stubs cursed, Brown's face twitched like he was trying to hide a rueful smile. "Seaberries," Ryda named the heavily taxed delicacies. "Let me guess, misplaced your papers? I hope you enjoyed your freedom."

"They're yours if you let us go." The wound strained Stubs' voice. "Declare 'em at the border, sell them at Diamond, you'd make two months' pay in a night. Each." He glanced between the pair, focused on Fessa over her shoulder. "You wouldn't send me back to chains for evading some tariffs, would you?

"They're just seaberries, Ryda... " Fessa used the same tone she had before. She had a soft spot in her heart for, well, everything, and Ryda knew she could use the money. So could she, in fact. But she glared back condemnation nonetheless.

"I don't take bribes. We're impounding their convoy."

One of the Lovers choked up, the other tried to hush him.

"It'll be fine, just a few lashings remember?" Brown's tone was a reprimand, and it drew Ryda's attention. The agri was drunkenly sobbing now. She looked at the camels. The agri was right: Stubs would lose his citizenship and probably be sent to hard labour, but the rest would receive light punishment - under Illian law the leader always took the brunt of the blame - they'd just be whipped for failing to report a minor crime and sent to another trader.

And why not register? The rest had been perfectly mundane, and even when a man led it a train of camels was rarely subject to thorough inspection. They were planning to slip through the border, which was a much larger risk than saving a few coins in tariffs was worth. And if their timing wasn't a coincidence, if they really had only been caught because Ryda hadn't waited another half hour to make her patrol as scheduled, then that meant they had very expensive information. "Fessa. Check the camels. Close. This doesn't add up."

She heard Fessa start a question, but then Brown tried to leap to his feet. Blind instinct directed her glaive to a spot between his ribs. He collapsed, shouting in pain, and she wondered dully where the blood had come from in the instant before she remembered Wings was still in fighting shape. Adrenaline drove her to rectify that, but her mind had caught up enough that she almost involuntarily twisted the weapon as she swung it - The flat of her blade cracked Wings' skull. An arrow flew past her shoulder.

"Carrinth's sake I didn't even do anything!" White cried, grasping his wounded arm.

"OhmygoodnessI'msosorrymyfingerslipped-"

"Fess!" Ryda first turned her wide eyes to Stubs. His own shot back hate but he remained unmoving. Wings was out cold, a thin flap of scalp shaved from the rest. Brown was in no state to fight. The others might have been able to take her, but looked more like scared lambs than wolves. Slowly, the young soldier regained control of her breathing. Her heart, she assumed, would return to a healthy pace shortly. She kicked off the ground, flying up and back, until she was beside Fessa. The girl's hands shook, but she'd notched another arrow.

Her panic, as it always had, drove Ryda's own to the rear of her mind. She first unstrapped her bow from the small of her back with one hand, then threaded her glaive through the loops that kept it between her wings. Her fingers fumbled, but Fessa didn't seem to notice. She was staring, terrified, at the seven below them. When Ryda had both bow and arrow firmly gripped in one hand, she put the other on her shoulder. Fess looked to her like a cripplewing in midair. "I'm sorry for shouting earlier." That didn't seem to make a difference. Ryda had never been good at reassurances. "I need you to go back to base. Get reinforcements."

Fessa looked to the direction of their camp, then back at Ryda. "I... I can't..."

"Okay, that's fine. I just-" she saw something move out of the corner of her eye, hand went from shoulder to arrow then drew back to her jaw, but it was just Wings stirring awake. Fessa's bow arm was shaking so much Ryda worried she'd loose another arrow, but when she relaxed her string so did Fess.  
"Can you search the train for me?" Ryda hadn't noticed the camels departure until after the violence was done, but they'd gone from a gallop to a slow trot a few dozen metres away. "It'll be okay. If anyone looks at you funny, I'll shout and put an arrow through their eye."

Fessa managed a nod. They flew together until Ryda was positioned between the errant beasts and their prisoners, where she stood guard.

"What the hell happened?" Wings asked.

"No talking!" Behind she could indistinctly hear Fess' soothing voice. The girl had a way with animals. If the Righteous Forces had use of cavalry or beasts of burden, she would have more likely been a stable mistress than a medic. Ryda's eyes never left the seven, though they didn't seem keen on making a break for it. Smart. A seri in the air was only vulnerable to missiles, magic, and other seri - the earthbound had none of the first two that Ryda could see, and neither of their flyers were in fighting shape. After what seemed like forever but was probably less, Fessa drew beside her. Ryda didn't look away.

"I didn't notice until I took everything out and it was still heavy." Her voice was subdued, but had much less fear. Fessa calmed animals, and they calmed her. Even camels.

"Notice what?"

"Look." She did. Fessa was holding an empty travel bag, with the interior lining cut open and held apart so Ryda could see inside. "They're all like this."

"Laaren's cunt," Ryda breathed. "All of them?"

Fessa nodded. "I think I can go get help now."

Secreted away in the dividing leather, where their bulk would almost certainly pass unnoticed in a full pack, rows of spearheads glittered in the desert sun.

* * *

_"That the magister, who ruled vast tracts of land and raised great cities with their cunning and magic, shall be charged with the administration of the kingdom..._  
-First Societal Decree, Ladies Carrinth and Laaren

Her long strawberry blonde hair was perfectly styled, her skin cultivated to a gorgeous milky tone, her white dress the height of fashion. Rinnai would have been the image of refinement if only she could stop twisting her head around in all directions. No city had more wealth nor power than Domin, and few could compete for size in either area or population: buildings of stone, timber, and even clay fought for every centimetre of available space, forced to a great press by the massive stone walls that protected and confined them. Even the main roads were crowded with people. Merchant queens and members of government and military officers were carried by servants in litters or pulled by fine stallions in carriages like her own, while elevated wooden walkways to either side were filled near bursting with free citizens and fourth castes alike. The crowds of oft-visited Abun sounded like crickets in an empty field compared to the clamour that these masses made, its domiciles small and insignificant compared to the towers she craned her neck to see the top of. Beyond those structures the sky shimmered with the thousand enchantments that protected Domin in ways mere stone could not. Occasionally the road would open into market squares where the air was filled with hundreds of aromas and the cries of stallkeeps hawking countless wares. _'After I have done my work,'_ she promised herself, _'I will go on the shopping spree to end all shopping sprees.'_

If there was one complaint she had for the metropolis, it was the stench. In the stretches between squares the dominant scents were of urine and vomit and unwashed bodies, which had been strongest when they first passed through the South Gate. As the palace closer the air became fresher, the people slightly fewer and greatly better clothed, the buildings better kept if just as clustered.

The Bright Palace itself was a wonder to behold, whiter than Rinnai's gown and shining in the sunlight above the city. Some said it was plated in silver, but she knew from Terresui that it was just marble polished every night by stonemasons. Occasionally it would be blocked by a particularly tall building, but in every market square there was a place for the peasants to look up and wonder at structure. _'Though they seem more interested in the price of fish than the palace's splendour.'_

Then abruptly Domin's opulent inner city opened to the Diamond, a fifty metre wide ring of mostly cleared ground that surrounded the hill's base. 'It's not shaped much like a diamond at all, really.' The buildings facing in towards the ring were only the finest of shops and the most luxurious of homes, where some of the richest private citizens and highest ranking public administrators in the empire called home. It was a community of crème de la crème, and Rinnai knew that if a woman had the platinum she could spend all her days without ever venturing into the city beyond. Some did. It made her envious, but also sad for reasons she could not properly define. The conflict threatened to overwhelm her thoughts until the cart began to incline and she was reminded of her destination.

She looked up to the white marble walls of the palace and smiled when she saw Terresui's form for the first time in over a month, waiting on the ramparts above the portcullis. Rinnai couldn't wait to see her friend again and neither, as it turned out, could Terresui.

Two flashes of magenta light occurred at once, one where she had been waiting on the walls a hundred metres off, and another where she appeared perhaps half a metre from Rinnai's face. Rinnai shrieked, Terresui gave a tackle of a hug. Not the most dignified reunion, but her driver managed to keep from falling off his seat.

"You're finally here!"

Having decided that she was not likely to suffer complete heart failure after all, Rinnai regained the presence of mind to return the embrace. "Am I late?". _'Deep, even breaths Rinnai'_.

Terresui pulled away. Magi's sight obscured pupil and iris alike, two discs of magenta beneath furrowed brow. "You said you would be here at midday. It is twenty one minutes past."

"It's an eight day journey, dear."

"Still." Terresui remembered her enthusiasm. "Oh, it's so good to see you!" Another, briefer, hug and she sat back on the cushioned bench across from Rinnai. "It's been so long since we've seen anybody. I mean, since we've seen our friends. I mean, since we've seen our best friends. It's been really nice catching up with our old friends in the Palace, but we were never as close to them as we are with you, and you know how people get distant when they only talk through letters for a while so even though I still have friends here I started feeling lonely after four days anyway and I think Sprig started feeling lonely after six days and wow I'm talking a lot." Rinnai had missed that nervous smile.

She noticed that a strand of hair had strayed from its allotted place. She glared at it with as much hate as she could manage in the space of a second, then brushed it back over her shoulder. "Where is Spriggy, anyway?"

Terresui's assistant was not at his usual place by her side, which Terresui found out only after Rinnai pointed it out. "Fiddlesticks!" She 'cursed' after casting her gaze about wildly and even checking the road beside them. "He is not going to be happy." Terresui was often either leaving Sprig behind or taking him along with her when she hadn't meant to, which she'd said was because after having him for so long she sometimes forgot that he wasn't actually a part of her. Rinnai had, after a few days consideration, decided this was an endearing display of affection rather than a mortifying lack of empathy. Terri looked at her like the poor girl had just committed some great indiscretion, so Rinnai gave her a reassuring smile. That seemed to relax her.

_'And yet when you_ do _commit great indiscretions you look at me like_ I'm _the silly one.' _Sometimes she reminded Rinnai of Pree, but only sometimes, and much of the rest of the time she made Rinnai herself feel like the fool. "I see you're dressing up more." Terresui's dark blue dress was more fashionable than her usual attire, her long black hair shone with oils Rinnai had rarely seen her use back in Barleytown, her lips were coloured the same shade as her eyes, and come to think of it those brows were much less bushy than usual. Plucking them must have been torture.

"Oh, yes. For today. Since you're here, and I was excited, and... What?"

"Well if you're going to dress up, you really should remember cosmetic." It had taken Rinnai a bit longer to notice the absence with Terresui's dark complexion, but her cheeks and eyes were bare of adornment. "No matter: I need to touch up anyway, we shall correct the issue then."

"Great." Her tone lacked the brightness it had a moment ago. She looked over her shoulder to the rising portcullis. "Great," she said in an even less enthusiastic voice.

Sprig waited for them there, young wood held together and pulled by arcane threads unlike anything an Illian could weave. Some superficial similarities existed between him and the three races of Illian. Two legs, two arms, a torso of curled branches greatly resembling ribs and spine surrounding the glowing green magic that was his core, and above that a series of twisting branches formed an almost conical head, faceless but for the pointed end that Rinnai thought of as a snout. One day he would be larger than most houses, but for the moment he was just under four feet tall. When he and Terresui showed up in Barleytown nearly two years ago he'd been the first entling Rinnai had ever seen up close, and a complete alien to everyone else. Even now staring at his core for too long strained her sight.

Rinnai had trouble reading his emotions, being that he had no face, but apparently Terresui could feel a glare. "Sorry about that!" Terresui departed the carriage as soon as it had stopped moving. "It's just that I saw Rinnai and got excited and I thought I teleported you with me but I guess I forgot again-"

"Spriggy-Wiggy!" Rinnai descended from the carriage gracefully, drew his attention artfully, and diffused the situation flawlessly. _'Still fabulous.'_

"Oh, hey Rinnai!" His magically-sourced voice reverberated, and the magi could hear it with both their minds and ears. "How've you been?"

"Bored to tears dear, truly." She squeezed a shoulder-looking knot of wood. "First you two leave us for Domin," _'Not that I can blame you.'_"then Ryda and Fessa enlist, and since Aij became the Arrapti matriarch she's hardly left Eastabun at all so it's just me and Pree most of the time. But listen to me prattle on when there's work to be done. Where can I find the design plans?"

"Oh, I have them right here." Sprig opened his ever-present courier's bag and sorted amongst the other things he carried around for Terresui. Rinnai took the moment to look around. She'd forgotten how many guards there were. Steel plate painted gold covered the agri with their pikes, mail treated the same way protected the sight-eyed magi with their spellswords, and the winged seri wore white outfits with a simply absurd number of weapons attached to them. Some few were women wearing badges of rank, but the overwhelming majority were fourth caste males. Most of the latter wore helmets, so it was only the seri true whose surgical scars were evident beneath shaved hair. She preferred not to look on them.

The rustling of papers brought her back to the task at hand. Sprig held up several scrolls, which she took hold of with kinesis. The papers glowed violet in her sight as she unfurled them, one hand across her waist the finger of her other placed thoughtfully below her lip. Three plans levitated before her: one detailing the proposed mess hall she was here to help direct, another detailing the storage room it was to be built on top of with notes regarding the supports, and the third an overview of the rest of the palace so she could see where it would be in relation to everything else. It was the last that drew her attention.

"It seems a bit out of the way," she said finally. "Everything seems out of the way, actually." She parted the plans to the side so that she could see Terresui, who seemed to have had some train of thought interrupted. "The barracks, the armory, the training grounds, everything your guards use is spread across the palace," she clarified. "Just off the top of my head I can come up with floor plans twice as efficient, and it looks like the new mess hall will be even further from everything than the old one."  
"That's intentional, look." Terresui stepped around the plans to Rinnai's side. She illustrated with her finger. "See, when a shift's guards wake up in the barracks they have to go this way," she traced a seemingly meandering path through the labyrinthine halls of the palace, "for their first meal. Then they go here," another long trail with almost no overlap with the first, "for morning drill. Then they either go here, here, or here," she sketched these routes faster, but Rinnai saw that they did not intersect at all, "for pay, briefing, or equipment checks. Finally they spread out to wherever their duties take them."

"And there are three shifts?"

"Six, overlapping."

_'With the guards scurrying around like this off-duty, they hardly need patrols.'_"Clever," she said aloud, "If inconvenient for the guards."

Terresui looked at her like she'd said something strange. "Their duty is to protect us, this helps them do it better. Besides, most of them are true anyway: they don't mind."

Rinnai moved a sheet aside so they could look at one such guard. His back was straight, wings neatly folded behind him, glaive perfectly erect, and gaze almost lifeless. Rinnai moved the sheet back.

"Yes, well. Shall we press on then?"

Terresui had been quite pleased with herself that morning when she looked in the mirror, with her shiny hair and thin eyebrows and beautiful dress and coloured lips. But standing with her eyes closed, putting up with Rinnai's primping and chatter about the proper way to ash her eyelids, she remembered why she considered fashion to be such rubbish. Carrinth never wore cosmetic and rarely bothered to update her wardrobe, and she told Rinnai as much. Rinnai responded with "Lady Carrinth could turn herself bright pink if she wanted to, she doesn't need cosmetics with magic like that keeping her beautiful." That almost made Terresui want to learn the spells necessary to do the same, but she knew it would take more effort than it was worth and besides studying aesthetic spells always made her feel vaguely dirty[1].

Sprig waited for them outside of the bathroom, at Rinnai's insistence. Terresui didn't much see the point since firstly they weren't going to get undressed at all, secondly Sprig had already seen her underdressed more than a few times as matter of course, and thirdly he was an entirely different species so what did it matter anyway? Rinnai had said it was 'the principle of the thing'. Terresui meant to apologise to him, but when they came out she sensed Sprig's amusement at her made-up appearance and decided he might've been made to wait a bit longer without undue harm.

The two women chatted as they walked through the stone halls she had grown up in, and as she listened to Rinnai tell her about Pree's antics at the Seeding Festival she thought how odd it was to hear that voice at home.

The palace had not always been home. She had spent the first six years of her life in the midcity, her birthmother a scholar and her tiedmother a bureaucrat, until the young girl's gifts were brought to the palace's attention. Birthma Cerrui was given a grant that would last her ten years, Tiema Arrelai was given the top job in her department, and Terresui was given to the Lady of Dawn as protégé. Under her care Terresui's full potential was unlocked, discussing politics and magical and economics with some of the finest minds in the empire while learning spells from some of the most powerful sorceresses in the known realms. But Carrinth worried that peers were not enough, so after thirteen years spent in the Bright Palace and a lifetime spent in the realms' greatest metropolis she was sent to a town so small it wasn't even on some maps. There she met her best friends, and together they grew closer than she'd been with any other mortal, but it had never been home.

The Palace's white brick walls and half legion of ever-watching true made her feel secure. The offices of the Five Ministries and the governors which constantly came and went seemed to put the whole Empire at her fingertips. The Academies of Study and the brilliant minds which gathered there challenged her. Domin's place in history as where the Ladies Carrinth and Laaren had founded the Kingdom of Eden tens of centuries ago reminded her that she was a part of something much greater. Most importantly it was where her sworn ruler, encouraging teacher, and loving caretaker lived. The choice between home and friends was one of the most painful she'd ever had to make, but not one she had ever doubted.

She couldn't have both home and friends, she knew, but for the few weeks Rinnai would be here she could almost forget that.

Before the pretense could make her sad, something Rinnai said shook her other thoughts away. "Wait, where did she get a four foot tall chicken?"

"I truly haven't the faintest clue. The Caiykens hadn't the faintest clue. Truth be told I'm not even sure _Pree_knew where that chicken came from but there it was, each feather dyed a different hue and Ayb riding it up and down the streets like a racer. I was terrified the poor girl would break her neck, but you know how the Arrapti are at festivals[2]." Rinnai shook her head.

"Forget 'blood shows', it should be 'hard work, insane play'!" Sprig added.

"Fitting, but doesn't roll off the tongue quite so well."

Terresui agreed with both sentiments. "So what happened to it?"

"Apparently it threw Ayb, which Aij claimed was 'an affront to the family', so she and Ryda teamed together to take it down. I'm not sure of the details, I had a bit too much wine and left for bed before I did something undignified."

Sprig sniggered. "Who'd you go with?"

"None of your- I mean how dare you even _imply_-!" Rinnai stuttered.

_'Bonne?' _Terresui only heard Sprig's voice in her mind[3].

_'Lirai would kill her. Must be one of the Boch's.'_

"I can feel you whispering." Rinnai's violet sight was nearly as sensitive as Terresui's own, which modesty aside was pretty impressive. She rolled her violet eyes and sighed. "NOT that it is ANY of your business, but it was Flita." She twirled a finger in her hair nervously.

That gave Terresui pause. "Aren't her and Clochasra..."

"Sisters!" Rinnai cried, aghast. Terresui thought she'd yank the hair from her scalp. "Really Terresui what sort of girl do you take me for?"

Time for a subject change. She grabbed Rinnai by the arm, focused on the west storage room, and in a flash they were there. She'd remembered Sprig this time. "All right Rinnai, time to start earning that consult commission. Don't want me to look bad for recommending you, do I? I mean, you. I mean... Rinnai?"

"Carrinth's Wing!" Sprig cried, seeing the problem at once. "Not on the apples!"

Teleportation was a jarring experience. If someone wasn't used to it, and if taken by surprise, it often resulted in something called translocative nausea by the academics, and flash sickness by everyone else. Next time Terresui would have to remember to give her passenger some warning in advance.

And save a barrel of apples.

* * *

_"That the agricultists, who fed and equipped the entirety of Eden through tireless work ethic and prudent sense, shall be charged with the provision of the Kingdom..._  
-Third Societal Decree, Ladies Carrinth and Laaren.

A woman and a man stood before a large, rusted liquor still. The woman was taller and better muscled than most, hair cropped short. The sun had bleached it and darkened her skin, which was besides as dirty as the workwoman's garb she wore. The man was a giant that towered over her by more than half a metre, with arms as thick as a bear's and nearly as hairy. Dirty blonde hair to match hers fell unkempt to the collar of his sleeveless red tunic.

"Busted," Bom told her. Aij spat. A dozen patches marked the still's frame, and this was the third time in as many weeks one had started leaking vapour. The metal was too worn, the time and coin spent fixing it too high. They'd have to scrap it.

"I'll miss the old bitch." A lifetime of memories passed through her mind. "Remember that time playing hide and seek when you got stuck under her?" Her brother nodded. "And Ayb getting trapped on top trying to run when she dyed my hair blue? Or that month my entire arm was bandaged wrist to shoulder because I tried to catch myself on it when it was on?" The corner of her mouth fell. "Come to think of it, that thing's always hated us. I'll be glad to see it gone."

"Yup," Bom agreed, and walked off toward the distillery's west exit to fetch some rope and other things. Aij knew it was to fetch some rope and other things because that was what needed to be done and lay south, and Bom knew she knew because they'd grown up together, which she knew for the same reason. Aij wouldn't have normally thought any of this except she knew Rinnai would be meeting with Terresui about then, so the Lady's student was on her mind. Explaining just such an incident with Bom to Terri had been one of their more memorable conversations.

'So he didn't need to say anything because he knows you know he knows you know what he's doing,' Terresui had summarised confusingly.

'I... Think so.'

And then Terri had told her what depth of recursion was.

Aij shook her head, a wistful smile on her lips. Magi had a way of overthinking simple things so that they became complicated, and Terr was worst among them for it. But Aij hadn't wasted time spent considering that caste-race's foolishness by standing around, so when her mind left her absent friend it came to immediately appraise the four males she found sitting on the ground a short distance north of the distillery, amongst some of the fruit trees they made great vats of cider out of.

They appraised her back, with a particularly wary eye on the bullwhip at her waist. They were passing time as males were wont to do, with a large bottle of grain alcohol half-drunk between them and its empty brother laying on the grass. Three agri and a seri, unless one or more of the three was a magi too incompetent and drunk to maintain sight. Doubtful, and even if it were true she didn't think it would matter: four males and two Arrapti were enough for the job. "There's some work to be done, boys, up and at 'em."

The three agri got up quickly enough, but the winged male remained in place. "C'mon mistress," he pleaded, "we've just had a full shift harvesting. Why not take some dicks from inside?" Magi women ran the empire, but for some reason it was the seri males that gave the most lip.

"They're working. Five hours to night, harvesting starts at dawn, means by law I've got four hours of your time left. Now..." Her hand came to rest on the coiled leather at her side, which spurred him to rise with a push of his hands and a flap of his wings. Seri enjoyed that bit of show around the flightless, though it could be quite embarrassing when they bungled the maneuver by putting too much or little power in one wing. They often did this while drunk.

His companions sniggered at the flop. Red faced, he found his feet with more conventional methods. She bade them follow her. One of them fell against a tree and laughed. Another rushed back to remember the half-bottle they'd left behind. The seri kept trying, and failing, to relate a particularly long joke. Aij's whip cracked the air twice before she'd herded the males to Bom. By that time her brother had already begun draining the still, secured four ropes to a pair of sturdy rafters, tied pulleys to the still, threaded the ropes through the pulleys, thrown the ropes over two more rafters closer to the still, and begun detaching its base from the floor. The Arrapti family motto: 'Blood Shows.'

Step one: Fix ropes to statrafters  
Step two: Attach pulleys to still  
Step three: Thread ropes through pulleys  
Step four: throw ropes over rafters

Aij helped him finish the last task, then assigned the four males to the two ropes attached to the still's left side as soon as it was drained. Herself and Bom took the right. The four males were used to hard labour and strong, but Aij was stronger still, and none of them could match Bom's power. He led the pull until they had raised it to a foot higher than the cart's deck. The males were all too drunk to be trusted, so she handed her rope to Bom. 'Depth of recursion' came to mind again as she quickly slid the cart under the boiler and rushed back to grab her rope from Bom's sweating hand. The still landed with a thud, the cart just strong enough to keep from buckling under the weight.

"Right. You," she pointed to the Seri. "Find Rey, tell her I've got some scrap for the Mellug's." Arrapti Rey was being courted by Mellug Jen, so she could probably get a good price. "Tell her that if she gets more than twenty copper a kilo I'll even let her stay in town for the night. The rest of you can get some horses and rig 'em to the cart." The males groaned, but did as they were bid. Work had done something to sober them, it seemed.

She looked at Bom, who was rubbing the soreness from one of his oversized biceps. Bom looked at her. The recursion depth stayed at ground level. "Yeah?" He asked after a moment.

"Pree'll be here soon, can you clean this up for me?" Bom nodded. Aij left him to it.

It was a ten minute walk from the whiskey distillery to the road that led to Barleytown and Pree was supposed to be arriving soon, but that girl was always either very early or very late so Aij didn't worry much. The path was well worn, but today she walked beside the hard dirt. A passing fancy struck her, the sort she would normally ignore. Pree must've been rubbing off on her early that day. She took off her boots and stood barefoot in the soft earth. Her eyes closed, her toes burrowed into the soil, and she sensed the land.

She could feel it all: The road that went from Eastabun Distillery through town and to Abun itself, the thickets lining that road until they split off where Arrapti land ended, both marking the border and acting as windbreakers for the vast fields of grains that stirred in the gentle breeze. She'd have to tell Dorn that the rye was being overwatered, then ground him a week for not noticing himself. She also felt, dimmer, the complexes of breweries and distilleries that those fields fed into, the living quarters and dinner halls, the silos and stables and the multitude of other things that kept the small town they named a distillery operating. Aside from a clear idea of Barleytown and a general sense of the great pulsating mass that was Abun, the world beyond Eastabun was unintelligibly blurred. Aij's geomancy did not seek what she didn't care about.

The almost countless acres of her family's land composed most of Barleytown's modest dimensions, and nearly half of that town's population was in her employ. Still more did most of their business providing goods and services to Eastabun and those who worked it. All told the Arrapti family produced nearly one litre in five of alcohol drank within the empire and two in five doled out as pay by the government to the males in its vast military and public works force. Their net income was equal to more than an insignificant portion of the royal treasury's. Eastabun's Arrapti were responsible for half of that, the trunk of the family tree: an old tree whose branches spread across the empire and beyond, whose roots were dug deep, whose care was entrusted to her and her alone. Aij felt soft earth between her toes, fresh air on her face, and a great oak upon her shoulders.

A young woman half-skipped down the road, loose white clothing bouncing along with her and fool's-gold rings clanking around her wrists and ankles. Her short curly hair was yellow today - not blonde, but yellow like dandelions - which made for a sunny change after the dark green it had been all last week. To each side of the road were thin thickets of fruit trees separating the fields beyond from the road. Some days Arrapti workers tended or picked them, but today it was just her and the birds and possibly a hidden sellbow or two but they only bothered you if you were sneaking or stealing and besides they knew Pree was a friend of Aij so they never bothered her even though they'd get mad at her sometimes for loudly greeting them whenever they didn't hide well enough to escape her attention. But she didn't see any archers today so she just whistled along with the birds, imitating their song. The thickets weren't deep, but they were long, going halfway back to Barleytown half an hour behind her. It either ended or began just ahead depending where you started from, but before it was in sight she heard the patter of soft shoes on hard earth and turned to see two youths running towards her.

"Pree!" The first made an elegant flying leap toward her, an earth-coloured missile in stylish silk dress.

"Swebei!" Pree spun as she grabbed the young one, a fatal error which allowed the second to tackle her exposed side. The pile of girls fell to the ground in a dusty, writhing heap. Ayb had her sister's strength and when Swebei's mouth got close enough to Pree's ears she gave a shout that left them ringing, but in the end the two children were both pinned to the ground under her. Nobody beat Pree at horseplay.

"We give!" Ayb declared after several attempts to wrench free, while Swebei just lay there gasping for air. All three wore children's smiles as Pree pulled them to their feet.

Ayb's skin was the same tanned peach of her siblings, but red pigtails and brown ringed blue eyes set her apart from the older Arrapti, even if her hair seemed a bit lighter and her eyes a bit darker than they'd been a few months ago. Her cotton clothes were way less fancy than Sweb's, but they were both just as torn and filthy as the girls were bruised and scraped. Ayb caught her breath first. "What brings you out here?"

"I need Aij's help with some shenanigans," Pree explained offhandedly.

"Good! She could do with a bit of fun. You okay Sweb?"

Swebei, bent over with her hands on her knees, raised an appeasing hand. The two agri waited until she straightened. She closed her eyes, and when they opened her green eyes had been replaced with pink. "I still have trouble with my sight," she said.

"Well you're only twelve!" Pree felt Ayb tugging on her hand, which reminded her she was already running late. She followed the girl's lead.

"Miss Terresui said she had sustainable sight when she was seven!"

"How old was Rinnai when she got susceptible sight?" Ayb asked sensibly.

"Sustainable," Swebei corrected. "Thirteen."

"Well there you go!" Pree mussed up the young magi's already hopeless hair. One problem down, one to go. She just needed to find oh there's Aij! She was walking down the path barefoot with her boots in hand. She had that troubled expression she wore too much these days, and didn't seem to see any of them until Pree waved and called her name.

Aij blinked back from wherever her thoughts had taken her, and raised her free hand to return the greeting. They ran up to meet her, Pree with long springy strides. Spring-sprinting had been difficult to learn, but definitely worth it. She skidded to a complete stop less than a metre in front of Aij, who had known her too long to flinch. "Thought I'd find you down here. Didn't expect these two though." She appraised the damage their tussle had done to the two youths. "Rinnai is gonna kill me when she sees that dress," she said wryly.

"I'm pretty sure you can take her, she's got a glass jaw." Swebei loved her sister more than most magi, which meant she'd demand a very high price before selling her to slavers.

"Glad to hear it. Now get you two." Swebei looked set to argue, but Ayb tempted her away with promises of a pond full of frogs. That sounded fun, but Aij seemed to want to speak in private. She waited until the two had crossed through the trees before speaking again. "Alright, you're here, I'm here, tell me what you wanna tell me." She turned around and began walking back to her home, Pree followed.

"I have this plan, a really good plan, but I need your help with some of it because I don't think even I can pull this off by myself."

"And by 'help' I assume you mean 'coin'." Aij's voice was tired. It was always tired.

"Well, yes," Pree admitted. "See I'm planning a party, and I was able to get all the party supplies, but I don't have enough money for a band and what's a party without music, right? So I just need a couple silver to pay the pipers." Pree chuckled at her own joke, but Aij didn't. "Okay okay, I wanted this to be a surprise, but it's actually a get together for the six of us!" She threw her hands in the air. Aij's face didn't soften.

"How do you plan for that?" She asked incredulously. "Terresui can't leave the capital for her studies, I can't leave Barleytown or even Eastabun most of the time for my work, Fessa and Ryd are off in Waste, Rinnai'll be kept busy for weeks in Domin...;"

"Fessa says they've got a few days leave coming up, so if the party's in Domin then we can all be there!" Pree raised her hands again, to the same effect as before.

"Alright, there's at least two problems with that. One: Domin is eight days travel each way. I can't be away from Eastabun for anywhere near that long. Two: Domin is expensive, Pree. I don't know if you've looked at the prices but I know you don't have the coin to rent someplace for even a night, and I can't put up family gold without a return." Aij's face went from hard to sad. Pree wanted to see it warm again, that was half the reason she was throwing the party in the first place. "I'd really like to see everybody Pree, really I would, but one of my stills just busted and with it being harvest season and all..." Aij bit her lip, eyes downcast. "Ryda and Fessa have a whack of leave coming up this winter, and I'm pretty sure Terresui can get a week or two off if she gives the Lady enough notice..."

"But I already have a place! I've been sending letters to Sprig ever since Rinnai got the offer from Terr, and he says he swung us one of the palace's banquet halls!" Aij went from sad to surprised to thoughtful, which Pree knew was progress. "Like I said I just need the silver for a band is all, and I know a girl there who used to play here so I think I can get a good deal."

"Just checking: By 'the palace' you mean the Bright Palace?"

Pree nodded. "Yep!" She was pretty proud of herself for that one, even if it had mostly been Sprig's work, she'd have to get him a big thank you gift like maybe some primo fertilizer or-

"Here's the deal." Aij had unknowingly interrupted but Pree forgave her instantly. "I'm in, but only if you add a couple names to the guest list. Maybe more than a couple."

"But, but I wanted it to just be a party for the six of us!" Pree loved meeting new people as much as the next girl okay so a WHOLE LOT MORE than the next girl probably but even she just wanted a private party now and then.

"Wish I could, Pree, but I can't just up and leave in the middle of harvest without a real good reason. Send out the invitations and not only will I pay for the band, but I'll pay for a flying litter to boot. Should cut travel time in half."

Pree pouted, but she knew she'd have to agree. She didn't really need the band, but a reunion with only five of them wouldn't be much of a reunion at all. "Fine," she acquiesced without much delay. "Who do you want me to invite?"

* * *

_"That males, whose avarice and brutality led to the turmoil that preceded Our rule, be placed on the lowest rung of society, to be used regardless of race in whichever way is seen fit, and that the lowest agricultist woman shall be above the highest magister male."_  
-Fourth Societal Decree, Ladies Carrinth and Laaren

Nour did not need a light. His complexion was so dark as to be nearly pitch, intense eyes fiery amber, features hard and strong. From an early age he had displayed a fondness of the night, most at home when surrounded by the darkness others shied from. The crescent moon of the Night Guard adorned his breastplate, scratched and faded though it was.

Behind him trailed others, some of whom needed torches they dare not light. They stumbled and cursed while following those who like Nour were more comfortable under the moon than the sun. This was the third night they had spent travelling through Wild. How many days or weeks that equated to in the precise cycle of Eden was beyond him, but they were nearly out of rations now. His head ached with tremendous pain, but he hardly noticed. Wild was not part of the Illian Empire and never would be, despite having a direct link to that nation's capital realm: it was a place anathema to the illian race. Seri wings betrayed them, magi sight blinded them, and trying to sense Wild through agri geomancy was like trying to gather a clear image from a thousand shards of warped mirror strewn across the floor, but more painful. Few agri could even try to look at it for long. Charting maps was beyond question. The Shining Lady had made a few peace agreements with the creatures that called this place home, then turned her attention to riper prospects without second thought.

Nour was a gifted geomancer, but he had no clearer image of Wild than the Empire had managed. It wasn't a clear map that drew him forward, but rather a sense of summoning. They had made more turns than he cared to recall, often doubling back, but at no point did his purpose leave him. Those behind him had been at first swayed by his promises of a holy quest, then began to doubt his sanity, then resigned themselves to following this mad prophet when they knew they'd be beheaded for desertion if they returned to Eden. Besides that, in the unknowable time since they'd first stepped foot into the realm, not a single of Wild's numerous predators had attacked them. Whether that was due to divine intervention or a more mundane cause, none had any misapprehensions about faring so well on a trip back.

Nour had no illusions that their fear would outlive their rations, but he was not concerned. He knew he was close, though he felt no closer than when he first entered the realm. Not until he ducked under the thousandth branch he had traveled beneath that night and walked into a clearing like the many others they had seen. It was there, in that unassuming place, that his destination lay. When he stopped so did the others. Two seri, a man and a woman, dropped their packs in preparation to make camp, but he halted them with a raised finger. All looked at him with what little hope they had remaining.

They were seven in total, which was a very auspicious number he thought. The two Seri were named Janto and Yira. They were identical in pitch skin and green eyes, even their height and stern faces were so similar it was difficult to tell them apart. Naturally two so alike in mind were very close, though Nour didn't believe the rumours that they were lovers: Yira was not so perverse as to take a male to her bed. The Rocciri Siv, Sav, and Sov were triplet agri: Siv a tall short haired woman of dark eyes and skin, Sav lighter and shorter but with the same eyes, and Sov the shortest of the three with fair skin and red hair salted with white. Last was the bald oakskin Ruloi, whose beard had gone to grey. Being the only man Nour had known to make officer rank, he'd assumed their cause lost when the dutiful confronted them sneaking out of Southwatch. But the man'd had no guards by his side, and only let the deserters squirm for a few seconds before revealing his intent to join them.

Sov was the first of the three others to notice. "A link," he breathed, and his siblings moved forward until they too could sense it. Nour himself had not known of its existence until a few moments ago, hidden in a way Wild did not hide things.

"Looks like the voice in your head led us true."

"It's not a voice," Nour corrected Siv for the dozenth time, "But yes. This is where we are meant to be."

He could not tell when Ruloi's eyes switched from green to yellow, but he must have reactivated his sight because he said the following: "Carrinth cast an illusion spell here." The group's attention now turned to him, and he shrugged. "Nobody else could have cast a spell like it, trust me. Wild's magic tears at our like coyotes at a carcass, but this thing's been here for years and all I can see are a few frayed threads."

Nour wasn't surprised. It was only natural She would not want this place found. Steeling himself for what might come, he walked into the next realm.

With each step, the world blurred. The temperature dropped. The earth beneath his feet seemed to shift; now leafy forest floor, now hard dirt, now the crunch of snow. His surroundings faded from green to ghostly pale, bright fields of it as far as the eye could see. When he had walked about the distance from the small clearing's edge to its centre, he was in the realm Carrinth had tried to secret away. It was night here as well, as he knew it had always been. The ghostly fields were of course the seemingly endless expanse of snow that covered everything. The air nipped at his cheeks, but did not bite: He would not die of the cold soon. He raised his eyes to the sky, and could not stifle the gasp.

It was the night sky as it was supposed to be. Instead of a pale yellow crescent, the moon was a great silver disc that shone down like a sun past dusk, turning the whole world its cold but soft hue. The sky was not studded with a few constellations and some lonestars between them, but a dark canvas bejewelled with a thousand thousand glittering diamonds. They were a sea with beautiful reefs and great rivers of current running through them, beyond counting and beyond compare.

When finally he tore his eyes from the sight, he noticed his companions had joined him. Sov stared upward with the same look of wonder Nour must have worn, but the rest had more practical concerns on their mind. "Sky's pretty, but it's the ground you should be concerned with," Siv told him. She had tucked her hands under her arms for warmth. "Try sensing."

He did. Then did again to the same effect. It was then he realised that Yira and Janto were not beating their wings to keep the blood flowing, and the looks of distress were not from the cold. "Ruloi?"

The magi's yellow sight was turned sterling in the moon's rays. He surveyed the land with a much calmer disposition than Nour felt. "Land's dead," he confirmed. His eyes returned to a sightless state. "At least as far as I can see." He turned around to speak to the two seri, who were shuddering with strain. Yira's toes still brushed the ground, and Janto had gotten no higher. "You two can stop that now, you'll just wear out your own stores." After a moment, they did.

"So how do you plan to guide us now?" That was Sav.

Nour turned to the blanket of snow that lay before them. "The same as I always have." It had never been geomancy that propelled him. He resumed the journey, and the six behind continued to follow. Siv came to his side.

"I don't mean to critique a goddess, but maybe she could have told us how bloody cold it would be?"

Nour smiled. Seven walked across that beautiful graveyard. No new snow fell to cover their tracks, nor did any animals sound or any winds blow. Each caste-race was represented, but in a realm without magic there was little difference between them. These things also made Nour smile. When he stopped again this time, nobody moved to set up camp. Ruloi's eyes regained their sight. "Well," he deadpanned. "Looks like we found her. What now?" Suddenly, Nour realised that he hadn't actually thought about how he'd go about releasing the Dark Lady from Her sister's bindings.

_'Fear not,'_ said the voice in his head. _'For We shall provide instruction.'_

Shit. Siv would never let him hear the end of it.


	2. Dusk Chapter Two: Party

**Chapter Two: Party**

"_Historically, dictatorships have not usually worked. The greatest city-states were ruled by councils or assemblies instead of kings, and the College of Theologians led the seri much better than the Reaver Lords which they displaced. But it seems to me that the Illian Empire has discovered the key to a successful dictatorship: put a Goddess in charge."_

-Excerpt, _A brief history of Eden politics_, by Verritai

23.3.2572

(Twelve Days Later)

Terresui held her hands out in front of her, even though she didn't think she'd be led into any walls and she knew where she was anyway. Rinnai had put the blindfold on in the spiral library, and since then she'd led her across half the palace to the east wing. Terresui's sense of direction was imperfect at best, but every once in a while she'd pass by a familiar sound or smell and she'd have her bearings again. It was mostly for the benefit of one very excited Rinnai. "You can't give me a hint?" Location aside, Terresui had no idea what was happening. "Like, a little one even? Animal, vegetable, mineral?"

"You shan't get a peep out me: I'll not ruin the surprise!" Terresui was not overly fond of surprises. "I'd better be able to find that book again," she grumbled [1]. "Sprig?"

"Sorting Number S-Twelve dot W-two dot one-nine-three-seven," her assistant recited once more.

"Good work, Sprig. Now I'll need- Why are we stopping?" Rinnai's hands left her shoulders. She couldn't see any more than she had a moment ago, but she knew they were in front of the east wing pantry… Or the east wing kitchen. Darn it. She heard doors opening, and a low murmur turn to a hushed silence.

'_It's a party, isn't it? With a lot of people.' _

'_No comment,'_ Sprig replied.

Rinnai started leading her forward again. _'YOU had a hand in this? I ought to singe you, you know I hate big parties!'_ Rinnai tugged gently on her shoulders to stop her. She heard someone walk forward, felt her reach behind to undo the blindfold. It fell away to tanned skin and amber eyes.

"How've you been, Terr?"

"Aij!" She hugged her friend, and spotted two seri in freshly washed leather uniform and an agri in bright fool's garb over her shoulder. "Everybody!" Aij must have heard Pree's approach because she disentangled herself just before Terresui was nearly thrown back into Rinnai by the blue-haired agri. Ryda's greeting was a brief but fierce squeeze, Fessa's much lighter and just as short but no less affectionate. "How did you all get here?" she asked, but Aij's explanation was lost when she saw the rest of the guests.

She first identified the other six members of the privy council, but they were just the biggest fish in the school. Half of the high government filled the east banquet hall. Aij was saying something about her apologies, and Terresui hadn't any idea what had led up to that, but she pieced it together quickly enough. "I understand completely. What I still don't get is how you convinced everyone to be here."

"I'm flattered to say I had a hand in that." Her friends and nearly all of the hall went to their knee. Terresui spun around and bowed to the waist with the rest of the council. Before them, the lingering effects of her teleportation spell rippling in Terresui's sight, was Lady Carrinth. The Solar Lady, Brilliant Mistress, Lady of Day, Avatar of Light, and a dozen other titles bestowed upon her through the millennia. The living goddess whose geomancy and venturgy were unmatchable and handled the day/night cycle, something most realms needed several teams of magi for, in the back of her head. Her sight was a true glow of white, her wings heavenly light made corporeal, her hair shone with all the colours of aurora borealis, her features and skin beautiful in an appropriately divine way. She stood head and shoulders above the lesser mortals surrounding her, and if they were alone she would have embraced Terresui like her child but it wasn't proper to do so in front of the rest of government[2]. Carrinth lifted her hand so that those who kneeled might rise, and thought to Terresui: _'I'm afraid nobody dares to deny an invitation the Lady has already accepted... No matter what the Lady might wish._' They shared a secret smile. "And how good it is to see Terresui's dear friends again! Pauli Pree, what a grand party. You must have many fine tricks for us tonight."

"You betcha!" Pree was literally bouncing with excitement. "I've got this thing with some crystals you're gonna love!"

Carrinth smiled. "I'll be watching," she promised. "Arrapti Aij. Has Gan found retirement well?"

Aij dipped her head. "She speaks highly of Lucis Island's beauty, my Lady."

Terresui's mentor had amusement in her eyes. "And that of its serving girls as well, I'm sure." That startled a laugh out of her friend. "Our women in uniform. All the Empire, myself foremost, thanks you for your service." Carrinth's head dipped toward Ryda and Fessa as Aij's had to her. They bowed in response.

"We are but barbs on a feather on your wing, our Avatar of Light." Ryda's voice was full of reverence, while Fessa's was so soft and nervous it could hardly be heard at all from where she'd slipped behind her.

"A wing without barbs holds no wind. Praise the Flock."

"Praise the flock," they chorused back in the same tones as before. It was a formal exchange, but Terresui didn't think Fessa could stand a more personal one.

"And Rinnai. I'm sorry I haven't been able to see you until now, but I have kept abreast of the construction work. You're doing a fine job."

Rinnai's curtsy and formal tone were finer still. "A pleasure to serve, my Lady."

As soon as she had finished greeting the last of Terresui's friends, the crowd moved to take their ruler's attention. Pree was the host, but most of the elite that had accepted her invitation gave the performer no more than a smile and a nod on their way to Carrinth. Some neglected even that, but Pree didn't seem to notice.

"Terr it's been so long I mean like months and I know you told me to tell you everything but I saved some really good bits like this part with a giant rooster-" Pree seemed to have learned a trick where she breathed in through her nose and out through her mouth simultaneously. Or at least that was the best explanation Terresui could come up with for why she never broke her speech for breath.

"Hey," Aij said out of nowhere. "Those people over there look bored." That was sufficient to send Pree jingling off to a group of administrators, multifaceted crystal pins suddenly and inexplicably in hand. Aij smiled apologetically. "I don't have long; gotta rub my shoulders while the rubbing's good, and I wanted to get a word in edgewise. Palace treating you alright?"

"Very, but most of it was in my letters. And the rest…" She looked over the crowd of officials surrounding them. "…Can come later. What about you?"

"Matriarchy's pretty much exactly like I thought, except I don't get as much sleep as I hoped. Frontier branch lost half their crop to a Stoneclub raid, Mepol branch has successfully managed to underestimate their competition for a third year in a row and now that's my problem…" She pinched the bridge of her nose. "Know what? I don't wanna talk about it. Ryda, tell Terresui what you told your flight leader, I could use a laugh."

Ryda, who had been idly examining the only weapon she was allowed in the Palace, sheathed her dagger to free both hands. That told Terresui it was going to be good. "Okay, so here's the deal: We've been in wild for like three weeks and only gone on a couple flights. I mean the only good thing about that post is the flying, but Cyrra wants us to go on another foot patrol. Foot patrol, like we were some earthbound – er, pardon the expression – legionnaires! So the whole murder's assembled when she says this but can't keep from sighing. She goes all 'if you got something to say, say it' and well she asked so I do. I don't remember it exactly, but it went something like: "'If we're gonna walk all day we might as well just clip our wings now!' So Cyrra's face goes redder than her wings and-"

Fessa interjected: "I think it was more, um, personal. I'm pretty sure you said she was a… That."

Rinnai looked at Terresui quizzically. Terresui thought-sent her a brief summary of what a clippedwing was. "You did NOT!" Rinnai gasped. "How weren't you flogged?"

"Okay, first, she asked me to tell her what I was thinking. Second, remember that girl I saved? Cyrra's niece through binding." Ryda puffed her chest and grinned.

"Well then thank the Avatar for that Manticore; Cyrra's a mean bitch." The Minister of War had detached herself from Carrinth quickly, and managed to sneak up on them despite her wooden leg. Her skin was the same as Terresui's, her wings black and fringed burgandy. Her eyes, though, were green flecked blue. Behind her was the sand-skinned Minister of Intelligence with red sight in her eyes. Ryda and Fessa stiffened to attention, but before they could begin a formal greeting Corra stopped them with: "Praise the flock."

"Praise the flock," they chorused back.

"That'll do."

"It was your punishment we wanted to speak on, actually." Sarrinai always smiled like she knew something you didn't. Considering her position, this was usually true. "If you had not been there, odds are we would have never caught that arms shipment. Good work."

"Thanks!" Ryda's pride turned to puzzlement. "But, uh, how do you know about that?" Fessa had slipped behind her again under the dual ministers' attention.

"I'd be ill fitted for my position if I didn't keep tabs on the close associates of-"

Corra cut her off. "Two soldiers of proven loyalty, a woman entrusted with the Bright Palace's blueprints, and the matriarch of the Arrapti family, all as you said close friends of the Avatar's prized pupil. We can trust them."

Sarrinai sighed. "As you wish." With a flick of her wrist the sounds of the crowd surrounding them became muted and unintelligible. Even Terresui could only detect the magic faintly. "Those were no common arms smugglers; they were Lunar Cultists."

Fessa paled. "Heretics," Ryda spat.

"I'm not sure you could count the agri as heretics, but they were all fools." Sarrinai smirked. "They might have passed through the border without drawing attention, or even had some paperwork forged: there are dozens of mercenary groups they could have claimed ordered them. Instead they tried to pose as the realms' most overly cautious tariff evaders."

"Indeed, as often as not the cultists' paranoia which betrays them. Little is more obvious than someone who believes she must avoid being seen at all costs." Sarrinai shrugged by tilting her head to the side briefly. "They broke easily enough, but I'm afraid they didn't know much. Arming for some great revolution it seems." Sarrinai chuckled. The Cultists were always arming for some great revolution. "But talents such as yours are put to ill use in Waste, I think."

"Any pair of wings can keep patrol," Corra agreed. "Might have to talk with Loi about getting more in there to be sure, but I think we can find you a better duty." Terresui knew an offer when she saw one.

"Madame Corra. Lady Carrinth wants to send me to Gulch to talk with the Four Tribes, and Ryda has experience with the harpies..."

"Done. Ryda and Fessa can relax with the rest of the honour guard in the finest caves Gulch has to offer."

That alarmed Fessa. "Gulch?"

"I'm not so sure that harpies and Fessa would mix," Rinnai said. "Swebei said her friend Scittila will be graduating soon, don't the Forces usually send a few ceremonial guards there as well?"

Corra turned her green eyes to Terresui. A little resignedly, she nodded: her debt had just grown a bit larger[3]. "Why not," the minister allowed.

"Great merit merits great reward." Terresui winced at the voice. It's owner had penetrated the sound bubble and stepped beside the Minister of Intelligence, all white-blonde hair and pale skin and slime. "Mistress Terresui, so good to see you out of the vizier's court!" Terresui returned the false smile with her own.

"You too. Everybody, this is the Minister of Propaganda, Vucui."

"Public Diplomacy," Vucui corrected. "As I recall, you were seven when I renamed it. Must be all those history texts."

The minister had committed many wrongs, but using *books* as an *insult* was instantly given honours as the worst among them. "History teaches many lessons. You can learn them from old wars, policies… Decrees."

"Well I'd certainly never last long in one of those debates you all hold in the Academies of Study," Vucui admitted. "Scholars really do have the greatest hindsight."

It was practise that kept Terresui from gritting her teeth. "I should introduce my friends. Please keep your hands to yourselves girls; Vucui hates to be touched."

"Oh, myself and Aij have already met her." Rinnai cut in before Vucui could respond. She looked at Aij knowingly. "And I don't imagine that's a quirk she'll be forgetting any time soon."

Aij's sigh was all exasperation. "Can you not forgive me any little thing?"

Vucui chuckled in that arrogant manner. "Dear Rinnai, I do believe your work has made you ill-tempered: you know I took no offense. Why don't I help you unwind? I know the city quite well, we could go..." That was definitely how wolves grinned. "...sight-seeing." Rinnai's cream skin turned crimson under her cosmetic. Aij clasped a hand over her mouth to stifle a guffaw. Terresui felt like she was missing something.

"Miss Arrapti, I've a mutual acquaintance I think you should see. Can I borrow you for a few minutes?"

"Ah, sure thing." Aij seemed to have recovered. "I'll talk to you later Terr, Lady Carrinth was kind enough to put us up for a couple nights."

"Oh, okay!" She was sad to see her friend go after just a few minutes, but she knew how good her last trip to the Palace had been for business.

Vucui began to lead her off, but then in a deliberately obvious[4] play started as if something had just occurred. "Oh Rinnai, why don't you join?"

Rinnai had regained her composure, her smile perfection. "Why, I'd be delighted!" Terresui pitied Rinnai, but at least she was holding her ground.

Corra and Ryda had started chatting at some point, the latter characteristically having forgotten her formalities quickly and the former having characteristically never cared much for them anyway. Fessa, characteristically, looked torn between the impulses to run as far from the VIPs as possible and to stay as close to Ryda's protection as possible. "I saw some great looking food at the buffet table," she told Ryda. "Are you hungry?"

"Yeah, actually. If you're going could you bring me back something?"

"Oh, um, sure."

"I think I'll join you." Terresui felt bad for the girl, Ryda could be even worse at picking up hints than she was sometimes. Besides that, her stomach had snarled at the mention of food. How long had it been since she'd last eaten? She remembered it had been morning when she found that book, but now the windows were dark with night.

Fessa seemed to brighten at that. They departed, Sprig as always by her side. "Think they'll have any compost?" He asked.

"It's a party for us; of course they'll have compost."

[1 A complete thirteen year record of all the trade convoys from Abun, written nearly a full century before the Taking of Domin! A precious find, all the more fortuitous in that the spells which kept It from decaying had worn off years ago. She'd been reading/transcribing the logs when Rinnai presented her with the blindfold.]

[2 This was actually a small relief to Terresui: Carrinth's agri aspect led her to be more openly affectionate toward her surrogate daughter than the full magi was entirely comfortable with from her surrogate mother. She was at least as much mentor as mother though, so Terresui put up with it.]

[3 Such debts were relatively easy to pay. The lower and middle government had its fair share of favors being repaid with switched arguments and insincere support, but Carrinth had a very useful power which read memories and intents: The Bright Palace's corrupt almost uniformly ended their careers with short falls and sudden stops.]

[4 If technically well-executed.]

"Why, I'd be delighted!" Vucui had given her two choices: decline and admit defeat, or accept and risk further japes. She would have chosen the shorter humiliation of it weren't for Aij. _' She just picked up her second drink and it's been less than fifteen minutes.'_ Terresui had spent most of her life amongst these people, but Aij had only some experience and little more natural talent. She wondered if Aij had known her comment was only a distraction to present Terri from doing something truly embarrassing in front of her fellow privy councillors. She'd have to ask later.

Vucui led them to another small group, which doubled in size when they joined it. One was a magi with red hair and green sight, another a blue sighted oakskin, while the third was one of the few agri present not wearing gold armour. She bowed low to Aij, which gave Rinnai a hint as to who it was.

"Arrapti Aij, it has been too long!"

Aij's smile was strained, but present. "Bunasch, a pleasure."

Vucui introduced them. The green sighted woman was the Minister of Economy, Astroi. The darker magi was Annei, secretary of infrastructure. "And of course you know Bunasch Bei, Ambassador of Trade and newest member of the Privy Council." That took Rinnai back a bit; the council's core composition hadn't been altered in over a millennium. _'Is this one of the changes Terresui was complaining about earlier?'_ Vucui looked pleased with herself, but then she almost always looked pleased with herself.

If Aij understood the full implications, she didn't show it. "I'm sure you'll do a good job representing us in there, Bunasch."

Rinnai got over her surprise quickly enough to see an opportunity. "With all respect, wouldn't an Arrapti be better suited? They _are_ the more prosperous family, after all."

Aij spoke to correct her before Bunasch could, just as she'd hoped. "We might make more coin, but we're more industrial and deal most entirely with one product. The Bunasch do more trade and have a better feel for the general economy than we do; Bei was the right choice."

Bunasch dipped her head to Aij. "You flatter me," she said, but Rinnai knew it was with sincere pleasure. A few words, and one of Aij's rivals took the first step to being a friendly voice in the Lady of Sun's ear. Rinnai couldn't help but reflect how different Domin was, and not just in the power some small cunning could have.

Males aside, not one in a hundred Barleytown residents were magi, and even in Abun they were less than half of the population. But here nearly all eyes sported sight, and most of the rest had wings on their back. She'd known that her caste composed more than a tenth of the illian race, but she'd never truly understood how unevenly the population was spread. Strangely, the change to being surrounded by those who saw as she saw was disconcerting. _'What it must have been like for Terresui to undergo the opposite.'_

Astroi's voice brought her back. "Food prices would certainly rise... I'm not sure."

Aij's glass was full again, which meant Rinnai had probably not missed more than one drink. "Abun's hardly in need of grain, madame minister. You give us the contract, and I'll turn the Eastabun profits into a company of Flatland mercs to help deal with that giant infestation we've got over there."

"Increased security _would_ ease the fear of potential investors," Bunasch agreed. "We'd only need Corra's approval for the increased mercenary presence..."

Rinnai's eyes drifted with her mind. It seemed she'd worried about Aij for nothing, especially now that they were down to the practical matters the woman excelled at. Her attention was drawn instead to glinting light: it seemed Pree had gathered a bit of a crowd. Her friend was hidden from view by the onlookers, but Rinnai could hardly miss those crystal-inlaid juggling pins - they flashed a dozen different colours as they caught the torches, quite pretty really. _'She puts on a good show in both regards: her smile never faltered when those snobs ignored her.'_ Rinnai looked around to see if Lady Carrinth had made good on her promise to watch, but couldn't seem to find her. That was strange for a woman of her stature.

Rinnai excused herself and made her way through the crowd to the centre of attention, the perceived danger of those high flung pins easing the task of securing a front row spot. More than one Barleytown resident sported scars from one or another of Pree's tricks gone wrong, so she supposed their caution was justifiable, but she was confident in her kinesis.

The girl was balancing on one bare foot atop a short wooden pole, muscles taut and sheened in sweat. Four pins tumbled high in the air first from one hand to another, then two each being juggled in a single hand, then meeting each other above their heads and sending each other falling back down to her waiting grasp. Some of the reflective crystals broke off at that, and Rinnai was sure somebody would lose an eye, but nobody screamed so it was likely fine. The pins tumbled high and low, changing speed and direction with each toss, sometimes rising and falling quicker than should be possible and at others seeming to hang in the air as if they'd forgotten about gravity for a few seconds, until finally their paths formed a perfect arc just above Pree's head and she snatched them all at once. They went behind her as she bowed to dignified applause.

The pole leaned back to counteract her leaning forward, then followed her into the air when she back flipped a dismount. Her toes released it at the perfect moment so that she caught it in hand not a moment after landing, to gasps and a more enthusiastic ovation. Rinnai clapped with the rest of them, her sight strained and still no closer than she'd ever been to discovering how Pree did what she did without the aid of magi spells or seri magic.

The pole vanished somewhere in her outfit, presumably alongside the similarly disappeared pins, as she ran up to greet Rinnai. The other magi courteously and graciously scattered before their host could get within conversing distance. The fool acknowledged that with no more than a quick glance at the new emptiness when she reached the architect.

"A wondrous show, Pree!" Rinnai used a sweat-vaporizing spell almost without thinking about it. "Do try not to attempt anything too dangerous, though. I'd rather no Winter Solstice repeats with, say, the Minister of Foreign Relations."

"Which Winter Solstice?"

"Sixty-Nine."

"Oh you don't need to worry about that, I don't even _have_ any foxes here."

"You know what I mean. It's fine to test your limits, but you have a tendency to- what are you looking at?"

"Aij and Ryda."

_'Oh dear.' _ She whirled around and spotted Ryda flapping a small way above the ground, irate, having a rather heated discussion with the matriarch in front of what seemed like most of the privy council. The words became more distinct as Rinnai pushed her way to the debacle.

"-won a few games before, but I've spent the past four months in the Forces while you've been wedding cousins and counting grain since Gan left!"

Aij's glass was nearly empty, which meant either she'd slowed down or sped up since Rinnai left them. "Think what you want feathers." Her voice was calm, which was good, but also a little smug, which was precisely how one went about aggravating Ryda further. "But last I checked the score was still in my favour."

Rinnai found a spot beside Terresui. Horrifically, she saw that Corra was among those watching Ryda make a fool of herself. _'How bad is it?'_

_'Not as bad as it could be, nobody who knows anything about Ryda expects her to be level-headed.'_

"You think you could take me now?"

_'How many of them know that much about her?'_

_'They probably had their hands on every file they could get on you five before I'd spent a season in Barleytown.'_

"Pretty sure, yeah."

_'Lovely people.'_

Terri's response was a telepathic shrug.

"I'd be interested in seeing some action to back those words, actually." Minister Corra smirked. "Balls bore me, games less so."

"This is hardly the place," Astroi objected much less resolutely than Rinnai had expected.

Sarrinai looked somewhere off to her right. "I think we can settle this easily enough. My Lady?"

Once attention was drawn to her, Rinnai saw Carrinth immediately. The Unnoticeable spell's thin white glow dissipated in her sight as it was dismissed, but Carrinth herself didn't seem too irked that she'd been caught. "The east banquet lawn should suffice for just about any game," she pointed out. _'What.' _"Ryda challenged, so I believe that means Aij may name the sport."

Aij seemed no more surprised by the Solar Lady assisting them in their rivalry than the councillors, though that might have been the liquor. "I won't give her that excuse."

Ryda's cunning look showed no such inhibitions. "Then I name Raiders and Traders!"

Rinnai's detachment from the situation was complete once she found out it was a cloudfort children's game. The rules were simple: two-thirds of the players were designated 'traders' and given 'goods' - normally melon-sized balls, but in this case guard helmets. The other third were designated 'raiders', and allowed to fly. The traders began a hundred metres away from the safe zone. If at least half of the goods arrived at the safe zone then the traders won, if not then the raiders won. Raiders could not enter the safe zone, and traders could not leave it once they entered. Aside from that there were no formal rules.

Rinnai's sanity was spared the test of having members of government join the teams, since Lady Carrinth had given Ryda and Aij leave to take their pick from the true guards. Ryda had for obvious reasons chosen a team entirely composed of cloudborn seri, and since spells were deemed cheating Aij had chosen agri. The raiders had an advantage in that most of them had played this game before, while the traders had an advantage in that agri possessed endurance a team of flightless seri would not.

Half of the banquet watched from the balcony, including her four friends and Lady Carrinth. Some part of her mind that wasn't totally numbed caused her to ask: "Is this how parties in the Bright Palace typically go? I've only been to this one and the Anarchy's End Gala last year."

"I wouldn't say _typically_, no. But administration's pretty boring work, so..."

"I see," she said hollowly, and sipped her drink. "Where's Fessa?"

"I lost track of her somewhere between the roast deer and the salad."

"Oh." Rinnai wasn't particularly worried: the girl often needed to take breathers alone while in crowds.

The guards had discarded their weapons, and since attempting to break bones was frowned upon the traders had removed their steel armour. Aij's team huddled around her, while in the air a more spread out formation watched as Ryda explained her tactics with gestures as much as words.

She did her bet to ignore Corra and Bei making bets not far down the railing.

Both women had split their teams into three groups, Ryda's in twos and Aij's in fours. Traders had to stay behind the start line, but Ryda had spread hers across the first third of the stretch. Both women made up for their true subordinates' lack of passion, and when Lady Carrinth gave the call to start their shouts would surely be heard across half the palace.

Aij's groups took off and split up almost immediately. Each had one pair of traders holding two helmets each and a pair running to either side empty-handed. Ryda struck with the first raider team, diving low to the ground while her partner stayed above and behind. She dodged an attempted intercept by one of the free handed traders and slammed full body into the one he was protecting, sending both them and a helmet flying away from the group. Her partner swooped down and caught the helmet mid-air while Ryda attempted to wrestle the second away from its bearer. The rest of the trader group stopped and tried to overwhelm her, but the first to get close received a kick to the chin for his trouble and Ryda took off sans prize. The four traders resumed their run toward the safe zone, and the raider pair followed.

The rest was much of the same. Rinnai's Eagle Eye spell kept the figures from growing distant as they raced to the finish line, while some magi with the same spell and a Booming Shout enchantment to boot relayed the scene to those without. Four helmets were taken in the first few minutes, but the agri's endurance served them well as the game wore on. As did Aij: two raiders were out of play after she doled out the sort of damage that was frowned upon. _'Though not by the audience,'_ she thought wryly. Indeed, the dignified women who led their glorious Illian Empire on its never-ending quest of expansion and conquest cheered at every hit made and helmet stolen. Some booed, which meant they'd actually started rooting for specific teams. She preferred not to think on that either.

Five helmets had been taken by the time the traders had gotten to the last third of their journey. Aij and six others now ran around the five who held the remaining helmets between them all in a great pack, while above two of the able-bodied raiders were laden with their spoils and only Ryda and another were free to strike. Both tried to do so again and again, but couldn't manage to snatch a helm away. They were tired and Ryda was angry, while Aij's group was still going strong with victory in sight. Finally the true raider got lucky and plucked a helmet away, throwing it up to one of his companions just before a freehanded trader caught his ankle and wrestled him to the ground. The group left them behind. Ryda's scream of rage solicited a sympathetic sound from Fessa. _'There you are.'_

With one great flap of her wings Ryda dove straight amongst the trader's ranks, and with another redirected her momentum upward in a recklessly sharp angle. Laughing, she held the seventh and winning helmet up for all to see.

The high government went wild, startling Rinnai's enchantment off. _'Oh, I'd forgotten again.'_ She leaned back to spy on Corra. The Minister of Defense was clearly impressed by the maneuver. _'Ryda's not just the best flyer in Barleytown,' _she reminded herself. _'She's one of the best in the realm.'_

She reactivated her Eagle Eye and peered at Aij. The agri was even more jaded to Ryda's skill than she was, and had other things on her mind. Her team had stopped once they realised the game was lost, but Aij grabbed a helmet and hurled it into the air. It was a good throw. Maybe it moved too fast, maybe the victory had distracted him, maybe he was too tired or too hurt to dodge in time. For whatever reason, one of the two raider trues' head snapped back and he fell. Four helmets fell with him.

"Is that… Is that allowed?" Bunasch asked in some shock. Both of the non-magi councilors held theatre lenses to their eyes.

"Great thing about this game:" Corra responded. "Most things are."

A pair of shouted orders from Aij sent most of the traders running for the safe zone, while three barehands followed her to the scattered helms. The struck raider hadn't fallen anywhere near far enough to kill him, but he was out. Ryda's old partner, winded, had found himself in a quite unbreakable hold by the trader who had snatched him from the air. One was too overburdened to try swiping anything, and neither of Aij's victims had sufficiently recovered. Ryda alone would have to gather three more helms before the four traders could grab two. No easy task even for her.

Instead she crashed into Aij. Rinnai hadn't expected anything different. The women wrestled on the ground while Aij's males collected their goods and doubled back to the safe zone. Aij seemed to have the upper hand for a few moments, but a palm to the throat gave Ryda enough time to break away and start throwing blows.

Pree giggled. "Those two really need to screw already." Her telescope was far longer than necessary, which was surely the point. _'Where _does_ she put all of it?'_

Terresui sighed. "I see nothing's changed since I left."

Aij tried to block the punches and kicks, but even an exhausted Ryda was a force to be reckoned with and most went through. Aij bore the brunt of them and responded with a few of her own, only a few hitting the mark but each a staggering blow.

"I'd expect your Ryda to do better," Bunasch commented. "Twenty silver on the matriarch."

"Done," Corra accepted. "If they were using weapons I can promise you Arrapti wouldn't have lasted ten seconds, but the Righteous Forces don't waste much time on hand-to-hand combat."

Ryda caught Aij's arm mid-punch, threw her over her shoulder, and kicked her in the ribs several times. The game had ended by then, so what remained of both teams just stood watching their designated leaders brawl it out, waiting for orders.

"They seem more aggressive than they normally do," Rinnai noted.

"Eh, distance makes the heart grow fonder." Sprig was sitting on Terresui's back. "This is the first time they've seen each other in months, right?"

"Yeah, and boy does Aij need it! Stress stress stress stress stress, it's all she's done all summer!"

Aij yanked hard on Ryda's leg, and then they were wrestling again.

"I'm surprised Ryda hasn't propositioned her yet." Lady Carrinth joined the conversation now.

To Rinnai's shock, it was Fessa that responded: "Ryda's always been, uh, shy about that sort of thing."

"Then I suppose Aij will have to make the first move. Wait, can the Arrapti matriarch marry? I keep forgetting. I know she can't have children... Sprig, where are my notes?"

"Back in your room," the entling answered irritatedly. "I think she's making the first move now, though! Wait, no, that's an elbow." Everyone winced.

"Doesn't really matter though: everybody knows Fess and Ryd are bound to be bound." Pree smiled deviously at the seri.

"I keep telling you it's not like that!" Fessa protested. "We tried it when we were young." She looked down, bit her lip, then faced Pree with more assertion than was usual for her. "It didn't work out."

Ryda had somehow gained the upper hand, and was using to repeatedly slap Aij pinned below her.

"Really?" Terresui's voice was incredulous. "You two have been together since before you could fly. She followed you to Barleytown, then you followed her to the military, and you've shared every posting! Even Waste! But you want us to believe you're just friends."

"It's true." Evidently the forces had given Fessa some courage. _'Good.'_

Ryda rolled off of Aij after taking a particularly vicious knee to the ribs. Aij didn't rise to press the advantage.

"You must care for each other very much, then." Lady Carrinth's glowing eyes were directly on the redhead now, but she didn't look away. That was strange for a girl of her nature. "Few friendships remain so strong after such a test."

Fessa blushed, and Rinnai decided it was time for a change of topic. "I can't stop thinking about those Lunar Cultists. What are they scheming I wonder?"

Aij helped Ryda to her feet, and together they began limping back toward the rest of the party. Obediently, their teams followed. Both women were more at ease than they'd been before the game, Rinnai didn't need to see their faces to know that.

"They've spent millennia scheming," Terresui said dismissively. "Whatever this latest plot is, I'm sure we can handle it."

* * *

'…_but you'll still be ugly.'_

-Arrapti Matriarch Aur, to Bunasch Bess

_Anarchy's End Day Gala, the Bright Palace_

_33.2.2571 SE (One Year Ago)_

Aij found herself looking at yet another empty glass. It was her own stock, but not the cheap booze they paid the males with. Oh no, this was the good stuff she'd come up here to sell the bluebloods on. Her spirits had filled many glasses this night, and she'd gotten more than one sincere-looking promise that Eastabun would get orders later on. Determining how many more than one was tricky, since she'd joined most of them in sampling her wares, but she knew it was enough to make up for her absence. Her friendship with Terresui was turning out to be quite profitable.

She felt guilty at that thought. When the Lady of Day's protégé had walked up to Eastabun wanting to see first-hand the distilleries that kept males in line, Aij hadn't needed Gan to tell her that getting friendly would be good for the family. But it was easy to like somebody that had so much honest curiosity about their business, and in the time since she'd found a lot to love about Terr. Theirs was a true friendship now, and thinking about it in terms of coin was felt dirty. But wow, was she making a lot of gold off this friendship.

Guilt forgotten, Aij looked around for another mark. Customer. Another customer. Fuck it, mark: who in their right mind spent five silver on a bottle of wine? She found one quickly enough, speaking to Rinnai. She'd known that one before Terr, though not as well. Her kind heart made her a bit preachy at times, but she'd never looked at Aij's kin like they should be beneath her. Even Bom. For that Aij would forgive her politics and nitpicking.

"Well I didn't do it for them, I did it because the promise of citizenship has cut male rioting in half," the mark was saying. Gan had warned Aij that the lighter a magi was the more trouble they were, and this one must turn invisible when it snowed, even her sight was like pale smoke. Then again, Rinnai's pink skin hadn't done hers any harm yet, though her hair was darker…

"Proof that practicality and empathy aren't mutually exclusive, I think. Aij, there you are!" Rinnai glanced at the empty tumbler, but said nothing of it. "Have you met Minister Vucui yet?"

Aij grabbed an empty glass from a passing waiter and half-filled both with her highest quality sample product. Public Diplomacy handled all the purchase and distribution of liquor to the public sector males, its head deserved the best. "Can't say I've had the pleasure." Aij judged she was about three glasses away from slurring her words. This would have to be the last for a bit. "We should commemorate with a drink."

"Thank you, but I prefer to keep a clear head," Vucui said. Aij passed the absurdly expensive beverage to Rinnai and extended her newly freed hand, with a practised warm smile. Vucui responded with a slight bow. "I also, you must forgive me, am averse to touching. An oddity of mine for as long as I can remember. It is of course a sincere pleasure to meet the future Arrapti matriarch."

So, a prude who thought she was too good to touch the little folk. Repeating Gan's advice wouldn't do, so she decided for a joke instead. "Must be a pain in the ass when you're trying to be intimate, eh?" Was that rude? Judging by how Rinnai's face had just frozen, yeah probably. Damn, she'd drank too much again. To her relief, the privy councillor laughed.

"You're quite the bold one, aren't you? Well to answer your question there's a lot of…" Her voice hushed to a sultry tone, with a grin to match. "…Watching."

Aij's opinion turned right around, but Rinnai looked set to faint.

* * *

Authors note: If you don't get the last quote, Google it.

Anthromorphisms have finally been nailed down, meaning some changes to non-Mane Six characters. Protip: Figure out what anthromorphised appearance means before describing the appearance of your characters. Managed to make it work though. Pree's skin, which I haven't actually described yet, is now officially a 'yewskin' tone (East Asian) like Ryda's. Ch1 edits to follow, along with links to a Google doc glossary/reference where I'll put all the unnecessary fluff.

Excluded scene:

"Which Winter Solstice?"

"Sixty-Nine."

"Is that an offer?"

"It's a _date_."

"Great! I'm sharing my room with Aij though, so we'll have to use yours."

Rinnai felt a headache coming on.

[Excluded on the grounds that the number 69 would look totally different in illian script, and that the 'date' joke also wouldn't make sense if we assume they're speaking a different language. Totally in character for Pree, though.]


	3. Chapter Three

PATCH NOTES: We here at Narcissistic Productions are happy to announce that, after much hard work, we've implemented Dusk 1.1: Anthromorphology. This is our first patch, and Celestia willing it will be the last as well. _Fuck_retcons. Anyway, now that I've actually got what anthromorphology means down, there's a few alterations. Here's an appearance change summary:

Rinnai's hair is now strawberry blonde.  
Pree's skin is now bark (East African)  
Swebei's eye colour has changed from amber to blue/green.  
Scittila has been renamed Secola, to avert any "Taste her, Rainbow" jokes. Whoops.  
Ayb's hair colour is red (Coincidentally) and her eyes are now pale blue with amber flecks.  
Nour's skin is now bark (East african) and his eyes are now amber.  
Ruloi is now a barkskin (West asian/middle eastern) with green eyes.

"Praise the Flock" originally came from Aurora Dawn's rather better-known Rainbow Factory fic. That and a couple other things basically ignited my imagination to create the Flock as I'm presenting it here. Permission to use the chant "Praise the Flock" and other such things was requested and gained for my first attempt at this story. While I don't think that a revision of the tale requires permission be gained once again, not giving tribute to the inspiration wouldn't be kosher.

A glossary is now up ( /2ndwarglossary ). It shouldn't ever be _necessary_ to reference this in order to follow the story, but it's a good place for people who like fluff/find themselves a bit confused.

* * *

_'There shall come a day where two who manifest the Flock's ideals shall appear outside of it. One will proclaim Herself an Avatar of Light, Her sister the Avatar of Darkness. They shall wage war against us, and in that war blood shall fall as freely from our clouds as water. Not all shall be spilt by battle.  
So powerful will They be that fate warps around Them, and the Voice cannot clearly see what lays beyond Their actions. It can only be known that should the Flock fall to Them, They will lead it out of the Age of Plenty to one unlike any the reaver people have known.'_  
-Excerpt, _Prophecies of Anna_

106th Day of the 4504th Year of Purpose / 26.3.2572 SE (Three days later)  
Haven

Fessa's stomach growled, as she knew it would all day. The line moved, she moved with it. She was glad to feel cloud under her feet again, to see Haven's white and grey platforms floating freely except where connected by an occasional ramp (Though right then she didn't like thinking about the people who used those ramps). It was also nice to see many different wing colours again, and seri wearing clothing rather than uniform. Her own dress, pale and simple though it was, felt a wonderful luxury. She'd missed the feeling of fresh air on her bare back, and had forgone binding her breasts so that even the skin just above and below her wings could breath. She hadn't planned on any strenuous flying anyway.

In the common market area of Cenhaven, which floated between the two major living districts and was surrounded by the many smaller district cumuli, seri from every flight of life intermingled. Women and men and males, acrobats and soldiers and interpreters, cloud-born returning home and earth-born tourists and even the odd cripplewing, all shopped at the same stores and exchanged jokes both clean and filthy. There was a hierarchy here, enforced by high and low alike, but it was not the class division that marked the cities and towns below them. Amongst the clouds all were sisters and brothers of the Flock, feathers on the same wing. At times like this, after seeing the casual cruelty of the earthbound's system, Fessa felt she could know Ryda's devotion.

Someone gestured for her to take an opening. Dyed wings drew almost as much respect here as interpreter's robes, which helped Fessa cope without Ryda to look out for her. She nodded thanks and kneeled before the hairwood platform. Its front was laden with the offerings of other seri, kept fresh by a spell maintained by magi who also walked on the boards. Even with Skywalker enchantments, few wingless felt comfortable standing on cloud. Beyond that was the massive statue that dominated Cenhaven, three figures honouring the Martyrs of Haven: a wrinkled crone, who represented those too old to fight. A woman missing one wing, who represented the crippled. The last, a young girl, represented those too young for battle.

Fessa knew them, and couldn't not know them, even though she was sure to never look directly at the statue. She laid the offerings she'd brought amongst the others, and whispered the words more for Ryda than herself: "To those who made the ultimate sacrifice in times of famine to keep our troops strong, we pay tribute. Though we lost the siege…" (She squeezed her eyes shut, the better to banish heretical thoughts and speak the truth wiser women had taught her) "...Though we lost the siege, know that your sacrifice was not in vain. However misguided your actions, your dedication ensured our place and our Purpose to the Whole Beyond the Flock. See our gifts distributed among our people, and know that no strife has befallen under Avatar's rule. Praise the Flock."

She rose, and left as hurriedly as she could. She wasn't hungry anymore.

"My little Fessa, all done up in blue." (Her dress was yellow, but it wasn't her clothing that her mother was talking about). "Have they been treating you well? I'd expect your skin would be darker by now." She poured two mugs of tea, since water had never been scarce during the siege.

"It's not like that at all, some of my officers are snowskin." Fessa had actually forgotten how nice it was to sit in a cloud-backed chair. She'd also forgotten how many loose strands of seri hair tended to collect in a house, but even that was a sign of home. "Has all the silver been getting through? I keep worrying some will be lost..."

Her mother chuckled. "You'd have to be a poor seri to steal from a soldier's package, and a stupid Sanhaven postwoman to think of thieving from Raider Ryda's girlfriend. Oh quit that look, I know you're not together like that, just don't let the post office in on it." She gave Fessa her mug, then sat down on a chair across from her. "The hospital's done plenty with the money you tithe, don't fret a bit. But speaking of her, where is Ryda?"

"Oh, she had other duties to attend to."

107th Day of the 4504th Year of Purpose / 27.3.2572 SE (One Day Onward)

Parents, teachers, and girls soon to be called young women flew between the platforms. The adulthood ceremony was no longer as significant as it had once been, when a girl's first blood came earlier and signaled it was time for her to begin shedding that of others, but even with years of schooling left it was an important marker in a girl's life. Many children were being fussed over by doting mothers (And a few sons by their fathers) but the girl she was looking for stood with a group of friends that had escaped their mothers' attention.

Secola looked very much like Ryda had at her age. Dark sand skinned and sharp featured with wings covered in long red feathers (Though they were lined black instead of trimmed beige, so it probably meant something completely different). And like everyone else at that age, her head was shaven and her arms lightly muscled from practise with the bow.

Secola spotted her some distance off, and rose to the air so quickly that her flaring wings nearly knocked one of her friends over. She covered the distance between them so quickly it made Fessa start back, but the girl barely seemed to notice. "Fessa, what're you doing here? Are you on leave? Where's Ryda?" She rose a little higher, searching for her idol amongst the crowds.

"I'm sorry," Fessa had felt that same desperation for that same woman more than once before. "Ryda couldn't come."

"Oh." Secola dropped to the cloud, wings downcast. "Sorry. It's great to see you."

"It's good to see you too, Secola." Silence. "She got her mission from the Minister of Defence herself, you know."

"No, it's fine." Secola forced a smile. "I know the Forces keep her busy. I was just hoping, since I told her my mom couldn't make it…" She looked at the ground, nails biting her palms. "It's fine."

Fessa put a hand on the girl's shoulder, wings instinctively moving forward as if to wrap around her. "She treasures all of your letters, you know. She'd have loved to come, but-"

"But she never does! She's the one that convinced me to leave all my friends, she's the one that convinced mom to send me up here, she's the reason they let me in at all, but she never…" Secola snorted. It was a hurt, angry sound, which brought to Fessa's mind eyes of teal and cyan.

"I'm sorry." It was all she could say.

"It's fine." Her wings rose, and Fessa's snapped back. "I should go. They'll be calling us soon."

"Oh, okay. Good luck out there!"

Secola's grin made up in pride what it lacked in joy. "Luck's for people who suck at adapting."

The show area was a wide, open patch of sky some distance below Cenhaven. The students and their chief instructors waited on a cloud at the area's head, most sitting down but some still waiting in one of the lines for their turn to prove themselves. A much larger platform on the opposite side, nearly two hundred metres below and twice as far horizontally, held the parents and what few other spectators were present. A pair of long, thin curving clouds sloped to connect the two and hold the honour guard, glaive wielders standing at attention while archers flapped above them. These ring clouds also acted as a border and reference point for the children, who were expected to infer the size and shape of the roughly spherical area they were allowed to fly in from the curves.

Fessa, who held an unstrung bow in her hand, had been hovering in the same spot for over two hours. The ceremony was only one of many being held simultaneously around Haven, each allowing twelve girls to fly at the same time, but even so the process took an excruciatingly long time.

Secola was near the end of the lists, which meant she'd done well. Very well, for an earthborn. As soon as her turn came she launched herself upward, forsaking a momentum-building dive to show off the strength of her wings. Passing the mostly unmarked sphere would be an embarrassing error, but her rise ended safely below the area's invisible roof and turned to a fall. Fessa watched with trepidation as her speed continued to increase, deftly dodging her fellow demonstrators with spread wings. She prayed Secola had taken the lesson of one boy, who had tried to stop too quickly and injured his wing mid-air. There were no clouds beneath the demonstration area, and nobody assigned to catch him (Fessa and the rest had been explicitly forbidden from any such intervention). A girl's parents might have dove after, but not his. Nearly all graduation ceremonies made one such example, but rarely two: the remaining children were more mindful of their limits.

Secola did not become an exception to that rule. She transferred the momentum of her dive to an upward curve that led to the rest of her routine, sharp turns and corkscrews and other displays of skill that well matched those around her and left her landing safe.

The line behind Secola had been short, so it wasn't long before the schools' valedictorian ended her extended performance (Good, but not as good as Ryda's had been) and the interpreter stepped forward. Her robes were white silk belted by a youth guide's green rope, backless and ending above the knees for freedom of movement. Her skin and hair were the same tone as Fessa's, but her motions were sure and her words confident.

"I am honoured to witness for the twenty-fifth year in a row the adulthood ceremony of Haven's youth," her magically amplified voice boomed. "Though you come from different schools and districts, know that today you are all sisters and brothers of the Flock!"

"Praise the Flock," the assembled seri chanted.

"Each seri here has proven their potential, shown that they have in their hearts the power to serve our Avatar and lead Her Illian Empire to ever greater glory. To conquer those realms which deny Her power and to protect those realms which are under it! These are the commands She has given us, our Purpose to the Whole Beyond the Flock, and as I watch these young seri display their merit I watch the Flock become stronger still!"

"Praise the Flock!" Her audience chorused back, none more enthusiastically than it's newest initiates. Fessa did her best to match the invigorated tone of the soldiers around her.

"Know that today your childhood has been left behind! Know that new responsibilities rest on your shoulders, that your strength shall be tested as never before! Know that you shall not falter and need not fear, for you are but one of many! Rise, my young siblings, rise and let your wings beat the air! Meet the future with the sureness of the Martyrs in your hearts and the strength of our sisters and brothers at your back! Destroy our enemies, defend our charges, and praise the Flock!"

"Praise the Flock!" Cried all once again, and the graduates dove in a great stream to the countryside kilometres below. This was the end of the ceremony, an ancient tradition dating back to the Age of Plenty when the new adults would sweep across the land to rape, pillage and generally do everything in their power to prove their worth as reavers. The celebration was less violent now, but just as unsupervised, both a blessing and a curse to the towns below.

With no small relief, Fessa saw their captain sign a dismissal.

Ryda might have joined her in Haven. Fessa knew her memories of gulch were mixed at best, and she was nearly as fond of Secola as Secola was of her. But there'd never been any question of her returning to the cloud fort. There were too many memories here.

Fessa stood on a small cloud. It was inconsequential, except that it connected three puffy ramps to one another: One led up to the medical cloud her mother worked and lived on, another led down to the small Sanhaven school, and another was the start of a longer trek to Cenhaven. The injured and crippled sometimes went through here, but it was rare. More common were children traveling from the school to the higher cloud at the beginning and end of the day, but even they were few. Ramps could be removed easily. It was a bad place to be trapped.

87th day of the 4489th Year of Purpose / 87.1.2557 SE (Fifteen Years Ago)

"You know what the worst part is?" Asked their ringleader. Fessa didn't know her name, they were all at least a year ahead of her. "I mean the really disgusting thing. You're not even _that bad_." The other two gave her quizzical looks, so she defended. "I mean, she's not _good, _but I've watched her with the dummies, she knows how to swing a glaive. But put her in a spar and she pees herself!"

One of the three shoved her into another, then their game started again. "Who ever heard of a seri _too scared to fly_?" The rough hands pushed her from all directions. "Freak." Someone tripped her, and she fell to the cloud. She didn't move, even when one of them kicked her.

"You're right Venna, she's a coward. Get up, coward." The next blow brought more tears to her eyes, so she just huddled there and wished for it to stop.

"I know what to do!" One of them hauled her up by her armpits, and then she was surrounded by the cruel smilkes again. "My boundmum told me what they used to do with seri too scared to fly," one of the faces said. She grabbed one of Fessa's wings, stretching it out and freezing her with the violation. "They took 'em to the edge of the cloud and tossed them off. But first…" A flash of intense pain, and the older girl held one of her feathers in front of her. "They plucked 'em. I wonder what you'd look like plucked, prey?"

"Pretty funny I bet," said another, and then she felt a hand on her wrist yanking her back and she knew she needed to fly and tried to remember everything otherwise when they threw her off she'd die, but then she realised the motley wings that moved in front of her belonged to a girl too short to be one of the three. Those wings were thrown wide open, and the strange soilskin guardian barred the bullies from reaching her.

"Back off unless you want a bloody nose!" Fessa knew that voice, it belonged to the girl that'd been advanced a year and was still at the top of their class. She couldn't see her face, but whatever expression she wore made one of the tormentors take a step back. The biggest just grinned arrogantly.

"Raider Ryda?" She turned the title to a mocking insult. "You got a girlfriend now? Fly away."

Ryda's fighting stance didn't alter. "You fly off, pugface."

"Three to one? Hardly a fair fight."

"I could tie a hand behind my back if you're too chicken."

The ringleader laughed, and it began. She'd been right: it wasn't a fair fight. There was a reason the women in blue leathers sometimes came to watch Ryda. She was a class to herself, moving with power and finesse and most of all speed marking her for greatness. But she lost that fight. They were bigger, and longer trained, and outnumbered her. Fessa was nearly as scared for herself as she was for her would-be saviour, but by the time they'd finally stopped punching her their taste for violence had been sated. They flew off to nurse their wounds, leaving Fessa to nurse Ryda's.

She was young and untrained, so at the time she'd been fairly certain Ryda was going to die, but when she shook her shoulders Ryda pushed her hands away.

"Ohmygoodnessareyouokaythanky ousomuchbutyoushouldn'thavedonethatmymother'sasurgeonwe'llgetyouto-"

"Shut up please." Ryda rose to an unsteady sitting position, one hand bracing her and another on her temple. "My head is killing me, and you're not helping."

"You're bleeding!"

"Yes, blood is often a side effect of being beaten to a pulp. You're welcome by the way."

"Yes, thank you! I mean I alreadysaidthankyoubutIguess youdidn't-"

"You're doing it again. You alright?" Ryda turned golden eyes to her. Well, one golden eye, the other had nearly swollen shut already. Her lip was split in a few places, bruises were starting to show across most of her face, and the rest of her body wasn't in much better shape.

"No I'm not alright I need to get you to my mother!" Fessa swung her head around, but all of the ramps still had big gaps in them and she couldn't even fly for long enough to set them right.

"Please tell me you live up that one," Ryda said, pointing to the shortest of the three broken paths. Fessa nodded. "Okay. Gimme a minute, my wings are still fine."

"What? You can't when you're like this!" But she did.

Fessa's mother clucked her tongue when she saw them limp into the kitchen. "Another bird with a broken wing? This one's bigger than the others."

"Nothing's broken, just… Sorry about that." Ryda cupped a hand under her chin to stop more blood from dripping onto the floor. "Just a few bumps."

"Hmph, you must be part agri to still be standing. Don't act all offended, it's half a compliment and the one sewing you up gets to be half rude all she likes. Sit your bird down, Fessa, I'll get my kit."

"I thought your name was Fesha or something." Ryda shunned her help and quite independently collapsed into a dining chair. "Fessa's much better."

"You didn't know who I was?" That both stung and confused her.

Ryda winced halfway through a shrug. "Someone weak being picked on by someone strong, that's all that mattered."

Fessa wasn't sure what to say. She knew she was weak, her teachers and classmates hadn't kept it a secret, but nobody who'd said so had ever stuck up for her. Thankfully her mother came back before the silence stretched on too long. She took the seat beside Ryda, and Fessa sat across.

"Rough spar?" Her mother asked sardonically, threading silk through needle. Fessa watched intently so she'd know what to do next time (Next time?).

"Saw some older kids were picking on your daughter, decided to send 'em running." How anybody so badly beaten could still look proud was, at the time, beyond Fessa. Her mother just shook her head and took Ryda by the jaw.

"Well if you can't be modest you might as well be brave. Open your mouth bird, this is going to hurt but you're too young for an opiate." Fessa's heart went out for the girl when the stitching started, but her mother just said "Hush up, I know it hurts", and that served to quiet her. By the time she was done with the silk, half a spool had been used up. "That should keep you from bleeding to death, now let's take a look at that leg."

"I told you it's not broke," Ryda said, but with her tongue and lips all stitched up it sounded like _I dol' ye ith no' 'roke_.i Fessa giggled, the girl shot her a glare.

"Sorry."

Her mother was kneeling, groping down Ryda's bad leg, making small thoughtful sounds whenever Ryda grunted or winced. "Well you're right about it not being broken, but you've sprained your ankle and with these bruises you'll be sore for weeks." She stood. "Spread your wings out as best you can. Flex. Bend them back. Wrap them forward. Good." Her mother must not have seen anything troublesome, because she never asked permission to touch them. "You can fly I take it?"

"Best in the class!" ("'eth en the clath!" Fessa covered her smile with a hand).

"Good, I'll take you home after dinner. Shut your mouth; you need time to recover and I owe you more than a few stitches for keeping my Fessa safe."

Once presented as a hero's reward, all the stubbornness went from Ryda's face.

Through the next day's first classes, she was terrified that the three would come for her. They had stitches of their own, but the smiles they gave her in the halls were no less vicious. Maybe if she went straight home after school ended, or used a different route...

She'd decided to spend that lunch in the library rather than the lunchroom, she probably wouldn't run into them there, but halfway down the halls she heard someone call her name.

"Hey Fessa, where do you think you're going?" Her breath stopped, but then she realised that 'Fessa' had come out 'Fetha' and she turned to see Ryda standing with a group of friends, waving at her. "Come with the lunch hall to us! If anyone bothers you I'll tear 'em up!"

The others seemed unsure, but not cold, and all were strong athletes. Fessa fell into the safety of the group, listening to their chatter on the way to the lunch room and trying not to do anything embarrassing. She was looking guiltily at Ryda's bruises when she realised something. She opened her mouth to ask, but closed it before she managed the first word.

Ryda shoved her, almost gently. "If you've got something to say, say it," she prompted.

"It's just… Are you lighter than you were yesterday?"

"Told you!" One girl exclaimed. "You owe me your desert, Vila!"

Ryda groaned.

* * *

_'Darkness shall escape, and try to dim the Light.'_

"Not there. Stand _there_. Yes. Check the snow, did you fuck it up? If you fucked it up I'm freezing your tongue to the roof of your mouth." Ruloi had almost entirely run out of patience.

_'Treat them kindly, We cannot commune with them as We commune with you.'_

'_Can't You do whatever it is You do with Nour?'_

'_No, else We would do so with you.'_

That was vaguely unsettling, but he pressed on. Everything about communicating with a goddess was unsettling, particularly when an agri had told him how to break the spells that had prevented Her from telepathy. How he did that without… Forget it, he had less confusing things to take care of.

"The symbols are unmarred," Sov told him. "Can we please get on with it?"

The seven each stood precisely thirty-eight centimetres behind seven intricate evocation circles carefully and exactly carved into the snow, forming a ring eight metres across. Nour had done the carving, then Ruloi had weaved magic into them. He'd never done such enchantments before, and he suspected that without Her giving him explicit instructions along the way he'd never be able to duplicate it. But as each circle became activated, tendrils of midnight had arisen from the earth and the magic She radiated became more apparent. Carrinth's tit, she _radiated visible magic_.

_'We have asked you before not to slur Our sister so.'_

'_Old habits.'_

Of course 'visible' was an inexact term. He could see it, sure, but he'd long thought that the way magi detected magic had more in common with hearing than vision. Explaining how was impossible to the magic-blind though, which made it bloody annoying since he couldn't talk with anyone about how he was experiencing the incarnation of night on every level of detection. Without sight in their eyes his companions had no context to understand him, so he kept it to himself. Doubtless they felt it in their own way anyway.

For one thing, nobody was tired. Odd, since he'd felt like they were walking for days when they found this place and he was pretty sure at least one had passed since they started the ritual, but he didn't even feel like a nap. Doubtless that was Her doing, though She'd said nothing on the matter.

_'Siv must move three centimetres to her left.'_

"Siv, left a bit. Right. Face inward." Suddenly the many wandering tendrils of night grasped onto them, each latched onto their chests like harnesses. Or leeches. It was like moving a light puzzle's last crystal into place and having the scattered beams coalesce into a sharp, sensible shape. Except with a goddess' divine touch. "If anybody moves, I'm plucking eyes out," he told his crystals.

"The Lady tells me that this next part will be difficult. Brace yourselves," Nour warned.

She was telling Ruloi things as well. He focused on his tendril, following its trail to the centre of the ground they all stood around. Through it he felt a dark shell of immense power, seeping past wards worn down over centuries of embattlement. His mind and soul was pulled around that shell, then journeyed down the other six magical limbs. "Kneel." He couldn't hear his own voice, only feel his lips moving and the strum of his vocal chords, but the others did as he bid. "Place your hands on the edge of the circle. Agri close their eyes and sense, seri spread your wings and feel the currents." She gave him one last command, and he barked laughter. "Try not to scream." So far as he could tell, they all failed that.

Life force was ripped from them, drawn down to feed the runes they'd made and the Lady they now served. Through wide eyes he saw the night crackle at the ground in their centre, felt the stars and the moon and the wanderers seeping through the snow even as he seeped into it, saw the leeching magic rise and lift the Lady of Dusk from the ground past seals he only now realized had been written into the stone far, far beneath them. The glowing white barrier still surrounded Her, but with one great thieving pulse that dimmed his vision near to blindness it burst to dust. He saw one foot touch the ground, white as the snow it stood in, before collapsing

Her touch was gentle, but it brought him wide awake despite his tiredness. He felt hollow, exhausted not just physically and magically but at a deeper level as well. His entire body ached terribly, and he wanted nothing more than to sleep and never wake. "Am I dead?"

"No, simply drained. Your strength will return in time." Her voice was a silken lullaby. "Can you stand?" He found he could, with some pain, and inspected what they had risked execution for.

The first thing he noticed was Her height, not so tall as Her sister was supposed to be but still tall enough that he only stood to Her chin. He looked up and thought for one ludicrous moment that She was bald, but then realized that Her flowing, lockless hair was night's blue-black shade. Her sight was the same silver of the moon above them, Her wings two perfect windows to the night sky with shining stars set against the black. Her skin was so pale it put the term 'snowskin' to shame, but did not make her appear at all sickly despite the slenderness of her frame, which for all her size was still slight: Her face was narrow but soft, breasts modest, slender hands ending in long fingers and a thin waist that led to narrow hips. It was only then that his beleaguered mind realised that the Silver Mistress was naked and his eyes shot straight back up to Hers before they wandered any lower and he lost them.

She looked down at Herself. "Oh," She said, "We had forgotten clothing." She shot an annoyed look to Nour. "Why did not you realize We were naked?"

Nour, who it seemed She had awoken first, looked as surprised as Ruloi was. "I suppose it hadn't occurred to me that the Night needed clothing?" he proposed.

Lady Laaren waved Her hand, and an outfit similar to Night Guard leathers appeared to cover Her. "A pious reason, at least."

She woke the other five by brushing Her hand across their heads, each rising just as quickly as Ruloi and looking just as worn. He tried to see what sort of magic She was using, but even activating sight was beyond him at that point. When at last all seven stood, She began to speak.

"For two thousand years, We have been imprisoned by foul magic. Our sister thought Us defeated, thought We would succumb to slumber or madness. But She was wrong! Within our prison We have learned much, spent much time growing stronger in mind and body. And now we are FREE!" The last was shouted at deafening volume, booming across the small, dead realm. "Free to continue Our work! Free to see the dream We died for become reality! Free to break the chains Our sister has bound Her subjects with!" She was mad with exultation, radiating so much power in her victory that Ruloi could feel his magical stores being replenished. Looking to the others, whose sense of magic was more innate, he saw faces fluctuating between wonder and fear.

"And you!" She focused her attention solely on Nour, who straightened as best he could as she walked toward him. "Our prison's walls have been weak enough to sense past for many seasons, but only when You stepped to Wild did We reach consensus." She placed a finger beneath his chin, and spoke as she might to a loved one. "Our folly in the last war was attempting to free the people by Our power alone. But that err shall not be repeated: the illia must help break their own chains. You shall be Our messenger, Our prophet and preacher. We place this burden on Your shoulders, Nour."

"What is your command?" Their leader asked.

"First, We would know what has transpired in Our absence," their goddess replied. "Then, our war shall begin in the shadows."


End file.
